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In the 
Land of the Salaam 



By 

BERT WILSON 

Secretary of the 

United Christian Missionary Society 

and Author of 

DAD'S LETTERS ON A WORLD JOURNEY 



POWELL & WHITE 
Cincinnati, Ohio 



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COPYRIGHT 1921 
POWELL & WHITE 



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©W.A653206 

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THE WORD BEFORE 

Some of the material in this volume was 
sent home as travel stories during my stay in 
India, and was published in World Call, The 
Lookout, The Front Rank, Girls' Circle and 
Boys' Comrade. 

Appreciation is hereby expressed to those 
publications for permission to use a part of that 
material, somewhat revised, in this volume. 

September, 1921. B. W. 



CONTENTS 

Page 
Chapter I— "SALAAM!" 

In the Land of the Salaam 11 

Indian Hospitality 17 

A Banquet of the Brahmans 22 

Chapter II— HARDA 

How Harda is Tackling the Sunday-school 

Job 31 

A New Testament Mary, One of Several 38 

A School Program for a City of Twenty 

Thousand 44 

The Church 50 

The Doctor Sahib 52 

Chapter III— MAHOBA 

In the City of a Thousand Temples 61 

A Hospital Set on a Hill 70 

The Mother of One Hundred Fifty-six 74 

Chapter IV— MAUDAHA 

A Stirring in the Mulberry Trees 81 

Jagganath, the "Witness Bearer" 87 

Chapter V— RATH 

At the Jungle Station of Rath 93 

An Interview with Pt. Nandkishare Sharma 97 



Chapter VI— KULPAHAR p age 

Kulpahar, the Place of Many Mountains 103 

Does It Pay? 118 

Shyan Bhabini 119 

Chapter VII— DAMOH 

Christmas Sunday at Damoh 127 

Scenario for a Moving Picture 134 

A Gospel Farm 137 

A Day With the Hustling Doctor Mary 143 

The Pioneeress of Damoh 149 

Chapter VIII— HATTA 
A Bungalow and an Opportunity 157 

Chapter IX— BINA 

In the Shadow of the Great Stupa 163 

The Miss Sahibs at Work 169 

Chapter X— JHANSI 

The Iron God Paves the Way 179 

The Future Program 187 

Chapter XI— PENDRA ROAD 

A Cross Section of the New Jerusalem 191 

A "T. B." Lighthouse 197 

Chapter XII— BILASPUR 

In the Villages Round About 203 

Burgess Memorial Girls' School 219 

Dr. Jenny's Work Shop 226 

Mamma Ji Kingsbury 228 



Chapter XIII— MUNGELI p age 

Evangelism With its Boots on 237 

By Ox-Cart to Piparkhuta 242 

Among Thieves at Kesaruadih 245 

On Horseback to Patharia 247 

Big Doings at Bhulan 250 

What They Said to me at Pendridih 254 

A Busy Sunday at Mungeli 267 

Evangelistic Work for Women 272 

Medical and Dispensary Work 275 

Among the Lepers 276 

The Women Lepers 278 

"And As Ye Go, Teach" 279 

Chapter XIV— JUBBULPORE 

The Bible College 285 

The Jubbulpore Church 289 

The "Jub" Printing Press 290 

The Annual Convention 293 

The Watch Dog of the Treasury 301 

Chapter XV— 
A TRIBUTE AND SOME PROBLEMS 

The Mem Sahibs 307 

The Problems of the Missionaries 316 

Interesting Facts About India 323 

Purely Personal 326 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 
Women with water pots on their heads com- 
ing and going Frontispiece 

High School Boys in their Daily Drill 48 

Image of the Goddess Kali, in the Hills Back 

of Mahoba 64 

Mr. Rothermel and his "Evangelistic Outfit" 84 

"After the Opening Exercises, the Women 
go out in the Yard for the Teaching of 
the Lesson" 112 

Hay Stacks on the "Gospel Farm" 138 

Dr. Mary McGavran and Purdah Women 144 

"What a happy, jolly crowd they were when 
they swarmed out in the great front 
yard 224 

Mamma Ji Kingsbury and her Ox-carts 231 

Baptizing in a River near Mungeli 256 

Dr. Miller and Hira Lai about their Work 272 

The Missionaries' Children at the Jubbul- 

pore Convention 304 



CHAPTER I 



'SALAAM" 



CHAPTER I 

"SALAAM" 

IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 



India might well be called the Land of the 
Salaam. At least it is the salaamingest land I 
have ever seen. Out in the middle west in the 
U. S. A. it was considered good breeding if you 
saluted your neighbor by the way; not so in Cin- 
cinnati or St. Louis, unless you know him. In 
India one is salaamed on every hand. 

"Salaam, Sahib. Carry your baggage out?" 
called out a half dozen coolies upon my arrival 
at Calcutta. One fellow took my trunk upon 
his head, a suitcase on top of that, a grip in 
each hand, and went down the gangway. 

"Salaam, Sahib," said the gari men as we 
came out on the street, looking for a taxi to 
take my baggage to the railroad station. No 
taxi was in sight except the two-wheeled ox- 
carts. 

"Salaam, Sahib," said the old keeper at 
Carey's Chapel in Calcutta, as we went to have 
a look at the beginning place of modern mis- 
sions in India. Here is the church that Carey 

[11] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

1 

built, in good repair, with services being held 
there every Sunday. On the inside we saw the 
baptistry which Carey built. It is in the floor, 
in front of the pulpit where everyone in the 
church can see it. In this baptistry Adoniram 
Judson was baptized, upon his arrival in India. 

"Salaam, Sahib," said the ticket agent as 
we called for tickets to Serampore, where Carey 
later moved and started the new work and the 
Bible College. Serampore is about fifteen miles 
from Calcutta, and a splendidly located sub- 
urban city. Here we visited the old home of 
William Carey. It is a large roomy building, 
now being occupied by the President of the 
College. 

Carey lived in this home from 1823 to 1834, 
the year of his death. He erected the college 
building in 1818. It is large and roomy in the 
colonial style. The auditorium will seat a 
thousand people. It is rather remarkable that 
this far-seeing pioneer had the vision to plan 
his Bible College for a hundred years in the 
future, for only recently the attendance has 
reached nearly six hundred. 

It will be understood that this is a regular 
Arts College and that the Bible Department has 
only a limited number of students. 

The great iron gate at the entrance of the 
grounds was given by the King of Denmark, and 
the large double iron stairway in the college 
building was also given by him. This tract of 
ground was originally ceded to Denmark, and it 
[12] 



'SALAAM' 



was necessary for Mr. Carey to secure his grants 
for the land through the King. He was pleased 
with Carey and the work he was doing, hence 
made these gifts to the school. 

"Salaam, Sahib," said the coolie, who had 
carried my baggage to the train when I started 
to Jubbulpore. I had paid him the regular price 
but he wanted more. A pice is one-half of a 
cent, and when I gave it to him he salaamed in 
farewell. 

"Salaam, Sahib, tea, sir?" said the steward 
of the dining car, as our train stopped at one of 
the stations. He came back along the cars and 
found out how many wanted tea, and had it pre- 
pared ready to serve when the train made the 
next stop. 

Those Indian sleepers are different. They 
call each compartment a carriage. Each second 
class compartment has in it five berths. These 
are like big leather sofas, only not nearly so 
soft. They run end-ways of the train, are sta- 
tionary, and there is no porter to make up or 
make down the beds. The passenger takes his 
own pillow, sheets, and blankets, makes up his 
own bed, crawls in and pulls the "drapery of 
his couch about him and lies down to pleasant 
dreams," or unpleasant dreams as the case may 
be. 

"Salaam, Sahib," said the syce of Miss 
Jeter's tonga at Jubbulpore, when I emerged 
from the crowd ready to go to my stopping place. 



[13] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

The syce is the man who tends to the horse, 
and he is a very interesting individual. He 
feeds and waters the horse, hitches him up and 
drives up to the door. When you start, the syce 
goes out and opens the gate. He then hops on 
a little seat behind the cart. You wonder 
why he is along, but at the first stop, it is plain. 
There are no hitching-posts in most places, and 
the syce is the portable hitching-post. When 
you are ready to go to the next place, the syce 
has the horse ready. 



"Salaam, Sahib, have a stick?" said one of 
the Bible College boys at Jubbulpore, as I walked 
out on the hockey field where a hot game was on. 
Hockey is nothing more than old-fashioned 
"shinny" modernized. When a boy I used to 
play "shinny" in the country school, so I took 
a stick and sailed in. I made a dash for the ball 
and heaved a heavy stroke for a three bagger, 
but found myself lying on the ground and the 
ball going in the other direction. "A haughty 
spirit before a fall," but not after! 

"Salaam, Sahib," called out two little Hindu 
girls on their way to school one morning. They 
were barefooted, had on their gay-colored saris, 
nose-rings, earrings, toe rings, bracelets, and 
anklets. India is a land where jewelry abounds 
on every hand, and on almost every arm, ear, 
nose, toe and ankle. 



[14] 



"SALAAM 3 



"Salaam, Sahib," said a Mohammedan pa- 
triarch with long whiskers, as he came to Dr. 
Drummond's hospital for medicine for his wife. 
He bowed with great respect and wanted to 
know about the wheat crop and cotton crop in 
America. He also asked why the price of cot- 
ton was so high in America. When I replied 
that it was no doubt due to the war, he shrugged 
his shoulders and made an outward gesture with 
both hands as if to say, "the war explains every- 
thing." 

"Salaam, Sahib," said the cook at Harda 
in the mission bungalow where I was staying. 
He had prepared some extra dishes for the new 
Sahib and greeted me with a profound salaam 
as 1 went to the table for the first time. 

"Salaam, Sahib," said a high school boy in 
one of the homes where I went with Miss Thomp- 
son. I was a seven days' wonder to him. How 
did they do this and that and the other in 
America? And would I show him my camera? 
And could he come and make me a visit? 

He came to see me, and I showed him my 
typewriter, my watch and my camera. He had 
brought two others with him. When I offered to 
take a picture of them, he replied, "Oh, no, sir. 
That would be very bad to take a picture, if we 
are not properly dressed. May we go home and 
put on our better clothes and come back in half 
an hour?" 

When they returned, they had on all kinds 
of jewelry, and one brought a small, gaudy- 
CIS] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

1 

colored looking glass. The high school boy 
came barefooted ; said he did not have any shoes, 
and would I lend him a pair of my shoes while 
he had his photo taken? When I brought a 
pair of number nines, he fished an old pair of 
socks out of his pocket but they were too small, 
and he had his photo taken sockless, but in the 
American Sahib's shoes. 

"Salaam, Sahib," saluted the village barber 
as he came to the bungalow to cut my hair. He 
cut my hair for four annas — about eight cents, 
and thought he was well paid even without a 
tip. 

"Salaam, Sahib," called the girls in the 
home at Kulpahar. "Give our salaams to your 
Mem Sahib, and to all your Miss Sahibs." 

And thus was I salaamed through India. 
The boy on the street, the merchant in his place 
of business, the postmaster, the telegraph oper- 
ator, the master of the schools, the Mohammedan 
beggar, the syce, the cook, the cook's wife, the 
weaver, the leper, the sweeper, the banker, the 
shoe mender, the barber, all saluted me and 
bade me farewell with cordial and courteous 
salaams. 

It is not an English custom, but strictly an 
Indian custom of salute and goodbye. In a short 
address in a church one day I told them that the 
Christians in America sent their best greetings. 
The interpreter translated this by saying they 
sent their big salaams. 



[16] 



'SALAAM* 



And on many occasions I was asked to con- 
vey to the American Christians their bari-bahut, 
big-big salaams. It is a pleasure, therefore, to 
pass on, through this volume, the best wishes 
and greetings from the very interesting people 
who live and love and toil in the Land of the 
Salaam. 

INDIAN HOSPITALITY 

Good old Kentucky hospitality has an al- 
most world-wide reputation, but the hospitality 
of "The Old Kentucky Home" has nothing on 
the hospitality of the humble Indian homes 
which I visited. During the first week of my stay 
in India came an invitation to eat at the home 
of the grandmother of the church at Harda. This 
good woman's son, Isaac, tall and straight and 
efficient, is the pastor of our Harda church. They 
met us a block off and showed us the way by the 
light of a lantern. 

"Ah, Sahib, we are glad to welcome you to 
our home. It's a simple home, but you are wel- 
come. We are glad to give you some of our 
simple Indian khanna (food)." We removed our 
shoes, and entering, sat on a small rug on the 
floor. Brass plates were placed in front of us. 
"Will the Sahib wash his hands?" It is the cus- 
tom before eating in India. A little brass bowl 
was brought for this purpose. Our plates were 
heaped full of rice, and then the hot curry was 
poured over it. "Shall we bring a spoon for the 



[17] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

Sahib, or will he eat with his fingers, Indian 
style?" (No spoon of course was available had 
it been called for). Chapatis, (Indian bread) 
were passed around. "Will not the Sahib have 
more curry and rice and more chapatis? Surely 
the Sahib does not like our food or he would eat 
more." (The first heaping plate full was enough 
for two hungry harvest hands). 

"Salaam, Sahib, we thank you for honoring 
us by visiting our home and eating with us." 

At Mahoba an invitation came from the one 
hundred and fifty girls to eat with them at the 
boarding school. Remarks of wonder and aston- 
ishment from the small girls that the Sahib 
could get the food into his mouth with his 
fingers. Bows and thanks and salaams from the 
matron and teachers that the visitor had sat on 
the ground with them and eaten his food out of 
the same great brass kettle. 

At Damoh a big Christmas dinner on the 
lawn of the church. The new Sahib must cer- 
tainly come and eat the Hindustani food. Great 
kettles of rice were cooked over a big log fire. 
A carpet was brought for the Sahib to sit upon. 
The whole church, with the missionaries, sat 
upon the ground in fine fellowship, and ate the 
simple meal. Ah, the Sahib wants a second 
plate of curry and rice! Surely he likes our food 
when he asks for a second helping. 

In the jungle camp at Damoh. One great 
kettle, larger than a bushel basket, full of rice. 



[18] 



'SALAAM' 



The second great kettle, full of curry and the 
meat from two deer, cut up into small pieces. 

"Sahib, you shot the deer and all the boys 
want you to come down and eat rice and deer 
curry with them." What hospitality these boys 
showed. Deer curry and rice, to them, was the 
par excellence of culinary achievement. Under 
the great banyan tree, with one hundred and 
fifty hungry boys, I ate deer curry and rice to my 
own, and to their intense satisfaction. 

And here comes the Indian policeman who 
lives in the village three miles away. Will not 
the Sahibs eat New Year's dinner at his home? 
It would please and honor him. We went, two 
of us on bicycles, while the third, with the ladies, 
made the trip on the Rajah's elephant. Salaams, 
and bows, and handshakes, and beaming coun- 
tenance, for never before had a Sahib eaten in 
this home. The young wife did not show up 
during the meal. That would have been im- 
proper. The policeman did not sit with us but 
acted as bearer and attended to our every want. 

In a little mud house, in another far village, 
I sat on the dirt floor and ate with a grey-haired 
Indian Christian. His daughter, barefooted, yet 
modest in her simple Indian costume, served the 
meal. I said to her, "Bai, your curry and rice is 
very good." She replied. "Ah, Sahib, it is the 
food of the poor." I said to her, "Yes, but it is 
good enough for a king." She replied instantly, 
"Oh, I have heard that the king has very fine 
food." 

[19] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

And will I ever forget the hospitality at 
Piparkhuta, nearly twenty miles beyond Mun- 
geli, fifty miles or more from a railroad? Mr. 
Saum had told them they must not prepare a 
meal. But at the conference of the few Chris- 
tians there, I noticed the hands of two big awk- 
ward fellows who had lately become Christians. 
Those hands were a golden-rod yellow, the un- 
mistakable stains of curry powder. No soap and 
water had been used to remove the stains from 
those lily hands! Meeting over. "Sahib," said 
these two men, "You have had a long journey. 
You must come to our house and eat just a little 
before you start back." Protestations from Mr. 
Saum. Stubborn insistence from these two men, 
mixed with anxious hospitality. We went. But 
if the reader can imagine the effect of those 
hands upon the average man's gastronomic 
apparatus, he will know that we went, praying 
that the Lord would give us extraordinary di- 
gestive powers after that meal. We needed both 
grace and courage to finish what it was necessary 
for us to begin. 

And the reverse of this at Bilaspur, at the 
home of a high caste Brahman — the man who 
bade Mary Kingsbury welcome to Bilaspur thirty- 
eight years ago. A well-to-do man, lawyer, col- 
lege graduate, author of two or three books. 
We sat on chairs in his home on Sunday after- 
noon and discussed matters of education and 
politics and world affairs. He spoke very good 



[20] 



'SALAAM' 



English and before leaving, insisted that we 
should have tea with him. The tea was served, 
not by his wife or daughters, for even in that 
well-to-do home it would have been improper 
for them to have come into the room. Improper 
for me even to have inquired about their health. 
He spoke of the women as "females." His son 
served the tea. Not in Indian style, but in En- 
glish style. But the hospitality of the occasion 
was Indian to the core. 

Yes, I sat on the ground and ate out of the 
same kettle with people who had formerly been 
sweepers, the untouchables, who are both the 
low caste and the outcaste of India. I ate the 
food of those formerly chamars, the leather 
workers, who are sometimes called the scaveng- 
ers of India. Both the sweepers and the chamars 
had been lifted from their degradation by the 
power of Christianity, and it was no dishonor to 
me to sit with them and to eat with them, and to 
partake of their friendly and earnest hospitality. 
With a dividing space of some three feet, I sat 
in the same room, and ate with the Brahmans, 
the high caste people of India. But whether 
they are high or low, rich or poor, educated or 
uneducated, there is about the Indian people, 
an innate courtesy and hospitality, a rare grace 
which is rapidly diminishing in the complex 
life of our American civilization. It would be 
safe to say that there is as much hospitality in 
a one-room Indian mud house, as there is in a 



[21] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

fourth-story efficiency flat in Cincinnati or St. 
Louis. 

A BANQUET OF THE BRAHMANS 

1 

One day while sitting on the veranda of the 
mission bungalow at Harda, a man came up 
and handed me this note: 

"The following gentlemen are re- 
quested to favor us with their company 
at a party to be given to Mr. Wilson in 
Mr. Paulkner's garden this evening ex- 
actly at 5 : 00 P. M. All are expected to 
be present at a photo to be taken at the 
time specified above.' , 

S. G. Paulkner, 
Secretary Mr. Wilson's dinner committee. 

Then followed a list of names of gentlemen 
who were invited to the dinner. The custom is 
for the note to be carried from one invited guest 
to another until all have been seen. So I marked 
the word "Seen" against my name, and the note 
went its rounds to all our Harda missionaries, 
four of our Indian Christians, three leading Mo- 
hammedan citizens, and to about thirty promin- 
ent Brahmans of the city. 

As we crossed the railroad track on the way 
to the dinner, a guide met us and went before 
to show the way to the gardens. After the 
[22] 



'SALAAM' 



usual red tape and delay in taking the photo, 
great care being taken that the guests were 
seated in the order of their importance, we were 
invited to go inside the house. We removed 
our shoes at the door, and were surprised and 
pleased to discover that the floor was covered 
with nice carpets. They had been borrowed for 
the occasion. We were seated at the end of the 
room, on the floor, with some long pillow-like 
affairs at our backs to lean on. The rest of the 
guests were seated in front of us, and around a 
large lamp which was placed in the middle of 
the room on the floor. Then the musicians 
brought in their instruments. These consisted 
of a harmonium, like a small baby organ, only 
flat, so that it can be played sitting on the floor. 
It is played with one hand, while the other is 
used in giving it wind. Two small drums were 
used, being strung up on the outside with small 
stout ropes, and tightened to tune by taking a 
hammer and pounding down some wooden blocks 
until the right tension had been secured. 

One man played both of these instruments, 
one with each hand, and simultaneously. The 
singer sat on the floor, and when the usual tun- 
ing-up was done, they began the performance of 
the evening. One man was very careful to ex- 
plain that this was called sangi — scientific 
singing. The first song was a description of the 
rainy season. It told of the husband being gone, 
the wife gloomy and discouraged, and complain- 
ing. It is a very interesting thing how so much 

[23] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 



of the Indian music takes on the moods of both 
the people and nature about them. 

Another was a song to be sung early in the 
morning, about three or four o'clock. The music 
is set according to the hour, and in keeping with 
the moods of the morning. It was explained 
that all of these were very old tunes, and very 
classical. That the old tunes were supposed to 
be the best, that no new ones were being written. 

Then a high school professor gave a solilo- 
quy of an old defeated king. It told of his bat- 
tles, his falling defences, and his utter defeat, 
and then at his death he exclaimed: "If I again 
take birth in another body, I will defeat those 
wicked enemies of mine." Both the recitation 
and the music breathed the native atmosphere 
of the Indian people. 



Then came the hour for dinner. I had 
noticed that as the Indians came in each one 
carried a package under his arm, which he placed 
on the floor, or hung up on a hook on the wall. 
I was interested in what they contained. Soon 
several of the Brahmans threw aside their cloaks 
and began peeling off their shirts, right in the 
presence of Miss Thompson and Mrs. Harnar. 
One of the men spoke rather sharply, and out 
filed the whole crowd onto the veranda, with 
their little packages under their arms. 

Then it was explained to us that the Brah- 
mans have a habit of eating their food with 

[24] 



'SALAAM' 



either wool or silk next to their bodies. So at 
meal time they remove their street clothes and 
put on their silk garments, which usually con- 
sist of a silk dhoti wrapped around their bodies 
from the waist down, the chest being left ex- 
posed. 

When all were ready we were escorted to 
another building, a few yards away. At the door 
of this building we were furnished water with 
which to wash our hands. It is the custom of the 
Indian people to eat only after their hands have 
been washed. We entered the long, narrow 
dining room and were seated on small platforms 
about three inches high. They were simply little 
wooden seats and in front of each seat the 
ground floor was painted with red and white 
paints, each guest's floor space being marked off 
for him. 

There was room for us five missionaries at 
the one end. At our right side were the four 
Indian Christians. At our left were the three 
Mohammedans. How were the Brahmans going 
to get around the point that they would not eat 
with any one else? It was easy. Between the 
Christians and Mohammedans they had marked 
off a little space nearly three feet wide. Beyond 
that the Brahmans were seated. They were all 
stripped to the waist, and their clean brown 
bodies looked like so many bronze statues set 
along the walls. 

There were no Indian women, and the 
gentlemen did the serving. They placed large 

[25] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

clean banana leaves on the floor in front of us. 
These were our plates. Then the food was 
brought in and placed on the banana leaves. 
There were fourteen kinds of vegetables. 

3 

When all was ready there was silence and 
the Brahmans chanted their grace in unison. 
The leader then announced that they would re- 
main silent until I had said the Christian grace. 
They were as reverent and courteous during my 
prayer as any body of Christians could possibly 
be. We of course ate with our fingers, as is the 
custom throughout all India. We had no sooner 
started than the leader came to us and said that 
it was the custom of the Brahmans when eating 
to be calm, quiet and undisturbed, to have no 
worries of any kind upon their minds, and he re- 
quested that as their guests we eat leisurely and 
happily, that we might best enjoy their hospi- 
tality. It was a splendid meal a-la-India, and I 
ate some of everything they put before me. 

After the banquet was finished, the Brah- 
mans sang a couple of their songs. They then 
asked us to sing an American song. We stood 
and sang "America" and it pleased them greatly 
because it is the same tune as the British "God 
Save the King." When we filed out of the din- 
ing-room we were again given water to wash 
our hands. Back in the sitting room, perfume 
and small cloves and seeds were passed. We 
then had a long discussion on many points of 

[26] 



'SALAAM' 



interest. I discovered that most of these Indian 
gentlemen could speak fairly good English. The 
principal point of discussion was the English 
rule and democracy. They wanted to know what 
America thought of the Indians ; whether or not 
they thought of them as wild pagans or as cul- 
tured and progressive people. They also wanted 
to know if the American people did not feel that 
the Indians should be given self government. 

Among them were two or three extremists 
and they were watching carefully for any word 
from me that they could construe as meaning 
that it would be a wise thing for the British to 
withdraw and leave the affairs of government 
to the Indians. I tried to point out to them that 
education and democracy had always gone hand 
in hand, and that it was practically impossible 
to have a democratic form of government with 
eighty-five or ninety percent of the people 
illiterate; that .one of the great needs of India 
at the present time is education, and that the 
leading Indians should use every influence they 
possess to assist the British government in de- 
veloping an educational system that would after 
a while produce a generation that would be 
capable of self government. 

Some of them were not very well pleased, 
because they did not get as much encouragement 
from me as they had hoped. However, when I 
left I had a high regard for the intelligence, 
capability, and astuteness of these courteous 
Indian gentlemen. 

[27] 



CHAPTER II 



HARDA 



CHAPTER II 

HARDA 

HOW HARDA IS TACKLING THE SUNDAY 
SCHOOL JOB 



I got up at 6:30 and was visiting the first 
Sunday-school at 7:30. The children were 
all there on time. It was a boys' Sunday-school. 
Some churches in America are losing the boys 
out of the Sunday-school; not so the church in 
India. 

I went to the first class and counted the 
boys present. There were twenty-one, all sitting 
on the floor. All were barefooted, and all had a 
leaflet containing the Bible story, and a good 
picture. A native leader was telling the story 
and getting the "reaction" from those boys in a 
fine way. 

The next class had twenty-eight boys in it. 
It was the same lesson, the "Feeding of the Five 
Thousand." The teacher was an expert in boy- 
psychology. He told the story in such a way 
that those little Hindu boys could almost see 
the picture. Then he carefully asked questions, 
as to what the boy in the story had, how many 

[31] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

fishes, where did he likely get them, to whom 
did he give them, and why, and what did the 
Master do to them, and could a boy help the 
Master today? Those boys answered the ques- 
tions with a snap of the eye not often seen 
among Sunday-school boys in America. Atten- 
tion and order? It was never thought of. 

The next class had thirty-six boys. This 
class was in an open room with a tile roof. Just 
as I came up, a mongoose almost broke up the 
meeting. A mongoose is an animal about three 
times as large as a tree squirrel. He was chas- 
ing another mongoose and the dirt came tum- 
bling through the tile roof as the animals 
squealed and fought. All the boys stood up in 
an instant and peeped up through the roof to 
see the fun. Just then the fight ceased and the 
mongoose stuck his head down through a big 
crack to see what was going on below. 



I got over to the girls' Sunday-school about 
a half mile away a little after 8 : 00 o'clock. In 
the first class there were thirty-six. They were 
dressed up in all their Sunday jewelry, and some 
of them in not much else. They were singing 
a Christian song with great enthusiasm. Their 
little brown eyes shone as they took part in the 
exercises of the morning. 

Another class had twenty girls. And 
another double class called the Marathi class, 

[32] 



HARDA 



because the girls speak that language, had forty- 
four. 

There were six women teachers in this 
school, all Indian Christians, and one hundred 
and fifteen girls. An interesting thing about 
this school was the offering. Most of the girls 
are poor and cannot give much, but nearly every- 
one gave something. What they gave was not 
real money but kauries. These are small shells 
and it takes about sixty of them to make a penny. 
They have a value in the money market, and 
each Monday the treasurer takes them into the 
bazaar and exchanges them for money. When 
the secretary gave the report, she announced the 
amount of money from each class and the number 
of kauries. I bought the whole collection to take 
home with me as curios, for an anna — two cents. 

3 

The next Sunday-school was nearly a mile 
away, and I got there a little after 8:30. They 
were just finishing a prayer, and the people all 
said "Amen" as it was finished. That is a very 
fine custom in India. At the church service when 
the minister closes his prayer the whole audi- 
ence says a reverent "Amen." 

As they sang a song, I noticed that all the 
children were singing from memory, while the 
adults had song books. When they had respon- 
sive readings, the men read one verse and the 



[33] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

women the next. And be it said to the credit of 
those Indian women, they read their part as 
well as the men. 

As they finished the song, just before going 
to classes, a sparrow fell down from a nest over 
the window near the pulpit. I noticed a little 
chap about ten watching the bird, with a tender 
look in his brown eyes. As they marched to 
their classes, he slipped out of the line, picked 
up the bird, and put it on the window sill in his 
class room. These people have a high regard 
for life of all kinds, and boys do not kill birds 
just for sport. 

I visited the mothers' class, and it was a 
real mothers' class. There were fifteen present, 
and seven of them had their babes in their arms. 
Another class was the High School class taught 
by Mr. Harnar, one of the missionaries at Harda. 
This is the only class in all the Sunday-schools 
that is taught in English. The boys prefer that 
as most of them are studying English in High 
School. 

This was at the central school, and is held in 
the church. There were 122 present. Three of 
the classes were held on the porches of the 
church and two on the veranda of the High 
School, which is about a half block away. Thus 
did I attend three Sunday-schools before break- 
fast, two of them beginning at 7: 30 and the other 
at 8:30. 

But that was only the beginning of the Sun- 
day-schools in Harda that day. In another 

[34] 



HARDA 



section of town there was a Sunday-school for 
the middle school boys, and thirty-three were 
present. Off in another direction there was an 
Urdu school for the children who speak Urdu, 
with an attendance of twenty-two. 

Across the railroad tracks there was another 
for the railroad people, all natives, and fifty-six 
were present. In another part of the town was 
the "Anna Pura" Sunday-school for the laboring 
class. This is in a small rented building which 
the Mission rents for one rupee per month — 
about forty cents. Twelve were present. 

Then there was the "Khera Pura" School. 
This is away out in the corner of town where 
the sweepers' Sunday-school is held. Twenty- 
three were present. 

The "Mahar" school had thirteen in still 
another part of town, and in the beggar section 
of the village a school is maintained for the beg- 
gars, who work at basket making when begging 
is not good. Twenty were in attendance and 
several kauries were put in the offering. 

Mrs. Harnar runs another school in English, 
for the English-speaking people of the town. 
These are mostly Anglo-Indians or "Eurasians" 
as they are sometimes called. Most of these 
people are railroad employees. 

Out in the country fourteen miles were held 
two more Sunday-schools for the villagers there. 
And they reported one hundred people present. 
In another direction thirteen miles were two 



[351 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

others in which there were one hundred and 
twelve in attendance. 

Altogether there were fifteen Sunday- 
schools in and around Harda, and the actual 
attendance at these schools was seven hundred 
and thirty-three. Most of them began at 7:30 
in the morning, and a few at 8: 30. Why do they 
go so early? Because that best fits into their 
habits of life. They have but two meals a day, 
most of them, and the first comes somewhere 
about noon. 

So all these Sunday-schools are held before 
breakfast. And how does the missionary adjust 
himself to this program? He takes chota-hazri 
— "little breakfast" consisting of a cup of tea 
and a piece of toast "very early in the morning," 
and then goes to Sunday-school. He gets back 
and has his breakfast about 10:30. 



At the close of the central Sunday-school 
the communion service was held. Pastor Isaac 
presided and read a part of the fourteenth chap- 
ter of John. Then there was a silent prayer. 
Then a spiritual song, and I have seldom heard 
a whole audience enter more heartily into the 
spirit of a song. There is no organ in the 
church, but everybody sang, from the least to 
the greatest. If putting an organ in would spoil 
that singing, then I would be "anti-organ" at 
least for this one church. 

[36] 



HARDA 



The individual communion service is used 
and there was the utmost quiet and reverence 
while the emblems were being passed. On the 
wall of this church is the following inscription: 

"In memory of G. L. Wharton, 

Pioneer Missionary, of the 

Christian Mission, and 

Organizer of the Work in Harda." 

As I sat in that quiet service, it seemed that the 
spirit of Wharton was brooding over that meet- 
ing and was glad, and that the Spirit of Whar- 
ton's Master was actually present. 

I ended up this busy day by speaking to the 
church in the afternoon at 4:30, and to the Eng- 
lish-speaking people at 6 : 00. The Harda church 
was crowded to its capacity, with some extra 
seats carried in. There was the greatest in- 
terest as I tried to impress the obligations of the 
Great Commission upon this church, to go out 
and bring the message of Christ to their own 
people. 

There are five hundred villages around 
Harda, and no other mission is here but ours. 
If the church at home does its full duty, and the 
church in Harda does likewise, this district some 
day will be a part of the kingdom of our Lord. 



[37^ 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

— — . > 

A NEW TESTAMENT MARY, ONE OF SEVERAL 
— 1— 

The India Mission seems to be long on 
Marys. There is Mary Clarke, Mary Kingsbury, 
Mary McGavran, Mary Longdon, and Mary 
Thompson. 

When G. L. Wharton, our pioneer mission- 
ary to India, visited Australia, a young school 
ma'am heard him tell of the need for workers 
in India. The pastor of the church said to her, 
''Mary, why don't you go?" She replied, "I 
would like to go if I could." 

When she first came to Harda, the meetings 
of the very small church were being held in the 
Wharton bungalow. There was one small 
school in the bazaar, and two very small schools 
in rented buildings. A small rented building 
in the bazaar was the home of the hospital. 

Having been a teacher in Australia, Mary 
Thompson began her career in India in the 
school room. But in addition to that work, she 
felt that the mothers in the homes must be 
taught also. So she began a systematic program 
of visiting in the homes of the people. Many of 
the women were not friendly at first, especially 
the Mohammedan women. They were preju- 
diced, and their husbands did not want their 
wives to learn from foreign women. But gradu- 
ally the simple life of faith opened up the doors 
and the hearts of the Harda women. 
[38] 



HARDA 



She secured the help of a faithful Bible 
woman in the person of Saru Bai. This woman 
is of a high type, a woman of great faith and 
devotion, who spends much time in prayer. 
These two made up an evangelistic team, and 
they have worked together since 1892, the second 
year of Miss Thompson's residence in India. 

They secured a tent, and a yoke of oxen, 
and toured among the villages. Sometimes they 
would stay for a period of three or four weeks. 
They sang gospel songs, read and sold the 
Scriptures, and talked to the people about Jesus. 
They felt that their chief work was introducing 
people to Christ, for many, if not quite all, had 
never heard of Him before. In this way through 
the years she built up a wide acquaintance with 
nearly all the villages within ten or fifteen miles 
of Harda. 

The man who drove her oxcart — the gari 
walla — was not a Christian, could not read nor 
write, and was as fine an old pagan as might be 
found anywhere. Miss Thompson preached, or 
rather talked to him about Christ on many a 
long trip into the country. She taught him to 
read and write, and one day she was rewarded 
by the man asking for baptism. 



One day I had time to go with Miss Thomp- 
son to see how she now does her work in Harda. 
We started out to visit some of the women in 

[39] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

their homes. Some of them were rather shy of 
strangers, she thought, but they might allow 
her guest to come in with her. Great was my 
surprise as well as hers, to know that every 
home except one to which we went was open to 
us. "If the Miss Sahib brings anyone to our 
homes, it must be all right." 

In one home the woman sat on the floor, 
and motioned us to sit down on an old bed. We 
sat down and Miss Thompson explained that I 
was new to the country and wanted to see her 
friends. I saw at once the anklets and bracelets 
and earrings the woman had on, and I began 
to count them out loud and express my surprise 
at seeing so many of them. The woman un- 
limbered in a hurry. Was the new Sahib in- 
terested in her jewelry? Well, she could meet 
him on that ground! She had more than that! 
Much more! And out came her jewelry. There 
had been a wedding in the home recently. There 
had been about two thousand rupees worth of 
jewelry given to the bride. And a woman across 
the street had a fine silk sari — native dress — and 
it was embroidered in gold! And would the son 
run across the street and have the neighbor 
bring over her sari, and her jewelry, and show 
to the new Sahib? 

Well, in almost less time than it takes to 
tell it, eight or ten women brought in dresses 
and jewelry, and we had a regular early morn- 
ing fashion show. When the jewelry was all 
displayed, Miss Thompson sang, and told them 

[40] 



HARDA 



about Christianity, and then had prayer. I do 
not know what she said, but I know that God 
seemed very near. 

In another part of town, we went to see 
some weavers. The men were weaving, and 
not a woman in sight. I began counting the 
jewelry on a dirty little baby's arms and legs, 
and soon a band of five or six barefooted women 
were hovering around with their babies, whose 
jewelry I also had to count. It is not the custom 
for the new Sahib to kiss the babies. Little boys 
and girls crowded in, the weaving stopped, and 
I don't know just how it was done, but Miss 
Thompson had shifted the conversation to re- 
ligion, and was getting in some fine work. 

And so it went all forenoon. She seemed to 
bring a ray of sunshine into these gloomy homes. 
They all seemed to recognize her spiritual pur- 
pose. One little boy whose home she visited, 
said to her: "Won't you pray before you go? 
Father is sick, and he always feels better after 
you pray." 

In another home she was teaching a girl 
about Christianity, and suddenly the girl burst 
out laughing. When asked the reason, the girl 
replied: "It seems so funny. Here you are 
teaching me about Jesus and the foolishness of 
idolatry, and there is mother on the other side 
of the room washing idols." 

One day she sang a certain song in a Mo- 
hammedan home. The woman told her she had 
heard that song at a wedding. She requested 

[41] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

that she be taught the song. "Many times," says 
Miss Thompson, "I have gone past that home 
and heard the Mohammedan woman singing 
that Christian song." 

She now has a list of about one hundred 
homes which she and Saru Bai visit regularly. 
She teaches the women to read, knit, sew, and 
never fails to teach them of Christ. Others 
come into these homes also when she goes, so 
that her work is thus increased two or three 
fold. I saw an elderly woman baptized in Harda, 
who had been won by this kind of faithful work. 

On Saturday evening in her home, Miss 
Thompson conducts classes for the Christian 
women. She gives them faithful instruction 
regarding their homes, the care of the children, 
and how to win other women to Christ. 

One non-Christian woman once criticised 
Miss Thompson for not coming to see her for a 
long time. Miss Thompson replied: "I taught 
you to clean up your house and your children, 
and you did not do it. What's the use of my 
teaching you when you will not obey? I am 
never coming to see you again until you send 
me word that you have cleaned up." It takes 
a good deal of moral courage to do a thing like 
that. But it worked. Not long after, she was 
invited to make a visit to that home and found 
it clean and neat. 

3 

Mary does not have a lamb, but she has a 
fine yoke of oxen, and a good two-wheeled cart. 

[42] 



HARDA 



If you ask why she doesn't use a horse instead, 
her reply is that her oxen can go places that a 
horse cannot go. 

One of her tours is about as follows under 
the present plan. She makes preparation for a 
three days' trip. Her folding cot is tied to the 
side of the cart. Cooking vessels are put into 
a box and also fastened to the side. Cushions, 
food, copies of the gospels, song books, and other 
things for the trip are packed under the seat. 
Boiled drinking water for the three days is 
taken in large earthen jugs. She takes enough 
bread for the trip, a lantern and plenty of oil. 

Then Saru Bai's things are packed in. They 
make their start on the first morning about 4 : 30. 
They reach the first village at day-break. The 
women are already up. India gets up in the 
morning, even though it might be "nicer to lie in 
bed." Other women come in, and usually from 
six to ten women are taught in this first early 
meeting. Then they go into another home and 
several other women gather. Miss Thompson 
has taught from ten to twenty women before 
some American Christian women are out of bed. 
By the time eight or nine homes have been 
visited, the majority of the women of the town 
have been taught. She will thus reach at least 
two villages before noon, and one or two in the 
afternoon. On the second day about the same, 
and on the third day on her way back to Harda, 
two or three more, arriving home at dark. Where 
did she sleep? In a tent, or in the oxcart by the 

[43] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

roadside, or possibly in a native house. There 
are no hotels. 

Does she get discouraged doing that kind of 
hard work? If she should, it would not be sur- 
prising. She seems to never tire of the work. 
She loves it, and she loves the people, and, "love 
never faileth. ,, 

A SCHOOL PROGRAM FOR A CITY OF 
TWENTY-THOUSAND 



In this splendid Indian city the government 
has no provision whatever for the education of 
the girls. Its only provision for the boys is the 
maintenance of a middle school. Because of this 
neglect, the mission finds its opportunity. 

A well organized primary school for girls is 
conducted near the bazaar, which had an at- 
tendance of more than one hundred and forty. 
There were nine teachers, all Christians, and 
instruction is given in the five primary grades. 
There are three departments of this school, the 
Hindi, the Urdu, and the Marathi. There are 
about fifteen Mohammedan girls in the Urdu 
class. The girls in this school come from many 
of the best homes, and are gaily dressed in their 
saris of all colors, with their bracelets, anklets, 
ear-rings, toe-rings and nose-rings. School is 
held five days of the week, beginning at 10:30 
in the morning and lasting five hours. 

[44] 



HARDA 



Some of the girls from the high caste 
families are escorted to the school by three old 
women who are the servants. These women 
stay at the school all day and carry water to the 
girls when they are thirsty. These high caste 
girls would not take a drink of water from their 
Christian teachers or even from Mrs. Harnar, 
the missionary who supervises the school. 

There is a school near the railroad tracks 
for the children of railroad employees. There 
were fifty-eight in this school, with four fine 
teachers. The boys as well as the girls wear 
earrings and bracelets. They all come bare- 
footed to school. On the walls of the one-room 
school building were large colored pictures of 
wild animals. One boy told the story of "David 
and Goliath" and a little girl gave the Hindi 
version of "The Little Red Hen." A woman 
teacher instructs the girls and the younger boys. 



The boys' primary school had an attendance 
of two hundred and nine. This includes the first 
five grades. There are ten teachers employed. 
Only ten percent of the boys are allowed free 
education. The others are required to pay at 
least one anna per month as fees. 

In the program given by the school, the boys 
recited large portions of the Scriptures from 
memory. One recited the thirteenth chapter of 
First Corinthians; another the fourteenth chap- 

[45] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

ter of John; another the Ten Commandments; 
another the Parable of the Sower; another the 
Prodigal Son; another the story of John the 
Baptist; and another the story of Daniel. Some- 
times as they recited, the teacher would stop 
one and have another take up the story where 
he left off. These Christian teachers seem very 
anxious to teach the Bible to their pupils. In all 
of its educational requirements, the school is 
up to government standards, and receives a 
grant from the government. 

In the Urdu primary school there are sixty 
enrolled, with five teachers. This school is 
maintained for the children of the Urdu-speak- 
ing people. They sang a song in honor of King 
George V. The British flag was hanging in the 
school room. This school, of course, is kept up 
to government requirement the same as the 
others. 

3 

In all, the Mission is running six different 
schools, from the primary grade up through the 
high school. The total attendance is around 
eight hundred. Of this number there are about 
one hundred and sixty girls. The girls attend 
school five days in the week, and the boys_ six 
days. All the boys, except about fifty, pay fees. 

In the primary schools there is Bible in- 
struction thirty minutes every day. In the middle 
school and high school, the Bible teaching has 
a forty minute period. 

[46] 



HARDA 



This school program is modeled after the 
government plan, five years of primary school, 
four years of middle school, and three years of 
high school. They are all government aided 
schools and follow the government curriculum. 
They are also inspected from time to time, by 
the educational department of the government. 
At stated times the government examinations 
are held, and these schools have a very high 
record in the proportion of pupils that success- 
fully passed this examination. The high school 
stood the highest of any school in the whole 
Nerbudda area. 



THE HARDA HIGH 

The nearest high school to Harda on the 
east, is fifty-five miles. On the west it is sixty- 
three miles. On the north seventy-five miles, 
and on the south one hundred miles. The urgent 
necessity, therefore, for this school may be 
easily seen. Harda High is a good school, and 
it is the only high school maintained by our Mis- 
sion in India. For the purpose of this report 
the middle school and the high school will be 
considered together. 

The total attendance is about two hundred, 
half of which are in the high school proper. At 
least half of the boys come from outside of 
Harda. There are boys in attendance from 
Damoh, Bilaspur, Jubbulpore and Mungeli. 

[47] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

There are boys from fifteen Mohammedan homes, 
six from Parsi homes, and one hundred and sixty 
from Hindu homes. The support of the school 
comes from three sources, government grant, 
fees, and mission appropriation. Each of these 
supplies about one-third of the money to main- 
tain the school. 

The church should take a square look at this 
high school it is helping to maintain in such an 
important and strategic center. There are thir- 
teen Indian teachers, including the drill master 
and the drawing master. Some of these teachers 
are Mohammedan and Hindu, as it is impossible 
to secure enough Christian teachers who have 
had advanced training. However, the Bible 
teaching is done by a well trained Christian who 
gives full time to that work, going from class to 
class at different periods of the day. 

The present building, a half block from the 
church, contains but four rooms. There is no 
room for the library, so it is stuck out in the hall. 
During the school hours the four class rooms 
are occupied, two classes meet on the veranda, 
and two or three other classes are being held in 
the church. There is no assembly room in the 
high school, and when any public services are 
held, thy must go to the church. 

Under these adverse circumstances the 
school has been maintained for many years. But 
through these years, the school has been kept at 
a high state of efficiency. Some of the teachers 
have been sent away for special instruction and 

[48] 




Q 



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'5 



CO 

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O 

PQ 

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•ofl 

X 



HARDA 



two or three of them have the A. B. degree. The 
educational department of the district gives 
prizes for the best drawing, writing, map draw- 
ing, etc. One year Harda High took first in 
drawing, first in penmanship and second in map 
drawing. Eight students took the examinations 
of the Bombay Art School and six of them 
passed. 

The drill master is a man of excellent train- 
ing and wears several medals. He gives the 
boys thorough, systematic drill, which is com- 
pulsory in the school. He also supervises their 
play in foot ball, basket ball, base ball, hockey, 
cricket, races, jumping. Teams from this school 
are sent to the tournaments, aiid it takes a 
speedy bunch of contestants to carry off more 
blue ribbons than does Harda High. The guid- 
ing hand in this important school program 
while I was there was that of Mr. Frank Harnar. 
(W. H. Scott was in America during my visit. 
They are to co-operate in the enlargement pro- 
gram of the high school.) 

The enlargement program of Harda High 
involves a new building on a new site. The 
site is already secured and paid for, a beautiful 
plot of ground, well located, containing from six 
to ten acres. The proposed building will have 
eight class rooms, an auditorium, which will 
also be used for an examination hall, two offices, 
library rooms, rooms for the head master, store 
rooms, two bath rooms and plenty of veranda 
space. It will be of brick construction, the floor 

[49] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

will be of flagstone on concrete, and the roof will 
likely be Allahabad tile. This new building when 
complete, will accommodate about four hundred 
boys. This would care for both the middle 
school and the high school for years to come. 
Mr. Harnar feels that when the new building is 
erected the attendance will greatly increase, as 
some pupils were turned away during the past 
year. 

The new site will give ample room for play- 
grounds and when the whole thing is finished, 
the Harda High will be second to none in 
Central Provinces. In all of this program the 
government will furnish one-third of the money 
and one-third of the running expenses after the 
new school is in operation. This plan has had 
the official vote of the Mission and of the Ex- 
ecutive Committee and the erection of the 
building will be pushed as rapidly as possible. 

THE CHURCH 

The regular church program at Harda is 
being pushed with vigor. It supports its own 
pastor who gives full time to the work. The 
church membership numbers one hundred and 
seven. Mr. Isaac, the pastor, has invented a 
new collection box. It is a large flat box with 
compartments, each compartment is for one 
family. Each family's name is written on the 
compartment and there is a small opening just 
below the name where the offerings may be de- 
posited. It was an unusual sight to see the 

[50] 



HARDA 



deacons passing these large collection boxes, but 
the members took particular interest in seeing 
that their offerings got in the right compart- 
ment. A year's financial report of the church 
showed the following: 

Receipts — 

Balance on hand Jan. 1 rupees 467 

From missionaries " 216 

From Indians " 412 

TOTAL " 1095 

Disbursements — 

To Foreign Society " 40 

" Kota (Indian Home Mission) " 90 

" Convention Expense " 10 

" Bible Society " 20 

" Tract Society " 20 

" S. S. Union " 10 

" Benevolences " 40 

" Total "for others" " 230 

Pastor " 310 

Church Expense " 231 

Grand Total " 771 

Balance in Treasury " 324 

Officers and pastors of American churches 
may find food for thought here as they study 
the budget system. It is not improbable that 
this Harda church, composed of these poor 
people, is giving more actual cash to support 
the gospel than some well-to-do churches with 
a larger membership at home. 

A significant series of evangelistic meetings 
were held in Harda. The town hall was secured 
for the meeting. Four of the high school 
teachers, two Brahmans and two Mohammedans, 
took an active interest in these services. They 

[51] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

passed the invitations throughout the town, they 
looked after the lighting, and acted as ushers, 
and kept good order. 

About two hundred and fifty people were 
present each night. The most substantial 
people of the town were present during the four 
nights of the meeting. Mohammedans and high 
caste Hindus, business men, lawyers, merchants, 
and bankers were in the audience. The Indian 
preacher spoke on the following subjects: 

1 — Christ and the Prophets. 

2 — Sin and its Consequences. 

3 — Christ and the Sinner. 

4 — Christ the Saviour of the World. 

One night the people desired to ask questions. 
The preacher stood before the audience and 
answered most difficult questions and defended 
and advocated Christianity in a splendid way. 
The meetings stirred the people to think more 
carefully about matters religious and it also dis- 
armed much of the prejudice in the minds of 
some of the people. 

The evangelists also visit the surrounding 
villages, and their work, along with the work of 
Miss Thompson, Dr. Drummond, and the in- 
fluence of the schools, is introducing a large 
number of people to the Christian religion. 

THE DOCTOR SAHIB 
1 
One day was set apart for me to accompany 
Doctor Drummond Sahib on his daily work. We 

[52] 



HARDA 



were on the way before 7:00 o'clock. As we 
went down the street in the tonga, a man stopped 
us. 

"Salaam, Sahib, come to my house at once, 
my brother is sick." We went. I went with him 
into a little front room where the sick man with 
a fever lay on a dirty cot. He held out his hand 
to have his pulse taken. Then the man's sister 
was brought in with rheumatism, and she, too, 
had her pulse taken. Then a girl of fifteen with 
a swollen neck was ushered in, and she stuck out 
her hand to have the Sahib feel of her pulse. 
That's the style in India, everybody thinks he 
will get better if the Sahib feels his pulse. 

As we left, a boy stopped us a half square 
down the street, and wanted him to come to see a 
man with the fever. Another boy salaamed to us 
who had had a timber fall on his neck. A grain 
merchant wanted him to go and see his wife. 
Another man came out of his little mud house 
and said he had someone sick in his house and 
that he had been waiting two days for the Sahib 
to pass that way. As we passed through the 
bazaar several others wanted help for various 
ills. There must have been at least a dozen 
different people on the street that morning ask- 
ing for help, before we arrived at the hospital. 

It happened to be a rainy morning, (this 
was during my first week, and it did not rain 
again during the five months I was there) and 
when we reached the dispensary veranda there 
were only two men there. In less than three 

[53] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

minutes there were a dozen. And what a motley 
crowd it was. One fellow with his leg off half 
to his knee, hobbling up on a bamboo crutch; a 
school boy with a big bottle for medicine; an- 
other boy with a sore ear. A gray-bearded 
grandfather wanted him to go and see his wife. 
A woman with a cataract in her eye; an opera- 
tion is necessary. Another woman with a nude 
baby astride her hip, the baby with sore eyes. 
A Mohammedan patriarch wanted the Sahib to 
go and pull his wife's tooth. A farmer with an 
oxcart drove in six miles for medicine for his 
wife and two children. I never knew before that 
there could be so many diseases. In a week's 
time people with malaria, typhoid, smallpox, 
eczema, sore eyes, itch, leprosy, plague, tumor, 
dyspepsia, and I suppose a hundred other ills 
came pouring into the dispensary for treatment. 

The assistant records each person's name, 
age, caste, disease, and number, and a ticket is 
given. If a man returns he must bring this 
ticket. 

As the evangelist began his morning ser- 
mon, everyone present leaned forward. The 
old grandfather seemed to absorb every gesture. 
The one-legged man had an expectant look as if 
he hoped to be miraculously healed. The speaker 
spoke with earnestness and directness on the 
incident of Christ washing the disciples' feet. 
He emphasized faithfulness, service and hu- 
mility. He told of the progress of Christianity in 
Africa and China, and said that the gospel was 

[54] 



HARDA 



not for high caste nor low caste, but for all. He 
urged them to accept the teaching and when 
they understood it to accept and publicly confess 
Christ. 

To me it was a dramatic scene. The rain 
pattering upon the tile roof — brown Hindu and 
Mohammedan men and women sitting on their 
haunches listening to a Christian sermon. In 
the yard a half dozen ox-carts; beyond them a 
block away, a public well, and women with water 
pots on their heads coming and going in the 
rain. By the side of the well a washerwoman 
pounding out her washing on the rocks. Out on 
the road the herdsman taking the cows and 
goats to pasture for the day. A man and wife 
walking up the road, the man under an umbrella, 
the woman ten feet behind taking the rain. The 
old Mussulman patriarch stirring uneasily as 
the evangelist pressed home the claims of a 
divine Christ upon their lives. And then the 
prayer. I could not understand it, but it touched 
my heart. And then the crowd at the drug room 
to get their medicines. 

When they scattered to go back into their 
humble homes I am quite sure that they carried 
more with them than what was contained in the 
bottles. Their hearts must certainly have been 
stirred with new sensations of service, and 
sympathy, and unselfishness as was mine. 



[55] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 



As the work has enlarged through the 
years, the hospital had to enlarge also. So the 
second hospital was erected where the opera- 
tions are performed and the in-patients are kept. 
A trained nurse — native — looks after the 
patients. On the wall a tablet reads: 

"The J. W. McCleave Memorial Hospital." 

The old hospital is used as a dispensary, a drug 
store, and the compounder fiHs all the prescrip- 
tions there. On the veranda of the old building, 
the preaching service is held every morning. 
After the patients get their tickets for their 
medicines, they wait for this service. The Doctor 
thinks they need healing for their souls as well 
as their bodies. Thousands of people every year 
hear the Gospel message that otherwise would 
never hear it. 

All of this medical work is co-ordinated as 
far as possible with the evangelistic program of 
the station. The names of villagers who come 
are given to the evangelists, so that when they 
visit those villages they have friends who know 
something of the work. The Bible women also 
are informed, and two approaches are thus often 
possible to the hearts of the people. 

The largest record thus far at the hospital 
was an average of ninety-six patients a day for 
a whole year, or a grand total of thirty-five 
thousand and forty treatments. And the records 

[56] 



HARDA 



show that the treatments were actually given to 
twelve thousand different patients. And yet 
there are young M. D.'s in America going through 
a starvation period of four or five years waiting 
for a practice. Is it any wonder that the whole 
town salaams the Doctor Drummond Sahib as 
he goes up and down their streets? 



[57] 



CHAPTER III 



MAHOBA 



CHAPTER III 

MAHOBA 

IN THE CITY OF A THOUSAND TEMPLES 



Mahoba has been called the city of a thous- 
and temples. An off-hand census quickly 
demonstrates that this is no figure of speech. 
On Mr. Thompson's compound there is an old 
suttee pyre, a temple, and two temples or shrines 
over the fence to the left. 

To the right of these grounds is the hospital, 
on which I counted four suttee pyres. In front 
of the hospital and across the street is the church 
grounds, where there are two small temples, two 
suttee pyres and another just across the lot line. 
In front of the church on the dispensary grounds 
is a small temple or shrine. 

In front of the dispensary is the large yard 
and home where Misses Ford, Dill and Pope live. 
In this yard — and front yard at that — there are 
four old suttee pyres and a dirty old temple just 
over the fence. In the corner of this yard, facing 
the lake, is an old open summer house used by 
some Rajah of the olden days. The view of the 
lake and surrounding country from this point 

[61] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

is very beautiful, but from there I counted six 
suttee pyres and a dozen temples and shrines. 

It was in this little summer house that 
Adelaide Gail Frost wrote her famous song, 
"India, Sad India." It is no wonder that the 
heart of this good woman was moved to write 
in such an environment of idolatry and super- 
stition. 

Back of the mission grounds and some 
distance away is the Christian cemetery. It is 
located at the foot of a rocky hill, covered with 
great boulders. Here is the beautiful white 
tomb of Dr. Martha Smith who wrought in and 
around Mahoba from 1903 to 1914. She is still 
remembered for her great work and her sym- 
pathetic interest in the welfare of the native 
people. 

To the right of this graveyard is quite a 
large temple, and at its base, under a great 
banyan tree, is a sacred pool. It is fed by a 
clear spring coming out of the rocks on the hill- 
side. At this pool two women and a nude child 
of about seven were hovered around a little pile 
of ashes and coals. We asked them why they 
were there. They had come to worship and 
bathe. Nearby was an old man who had come 
out of the city and climbed the slope to this 
Hindu pool of Siloam. 

Under the trees was a big ugly image of 
black stone and it was still damp, as some wor- 
shiper had poured water over it from the pool. 
In the temple court were a number of small 

[62] 



MAHOBA 



shrines and small dirty broken gods. No priest 
or caretaker was to be found. 



Farther up the hill is another popular temple. 
In this temple is a big image of the god Hanu- 
man. He is a hideous looking old fellow nearly 
the size of a man, painted a deep red, the kind of 
red that the farmers use in painting their barns. 
An old lady and a small girl with nothing on but 
bracelets and anklets, were staying in the temple 
house. She said they had come up for only a 
few days . This place of worship is reached 
by a long row of stone steps from the valley be- 
low and when the big annual religious fair is 
held thousands of Hindus climb these stone steps 
to get a view of Hanuman and do their obeisance 
to him. 

On another hillside is a great stone image 
of the god Kali. She is carved out of a great 
rock and is fifteen feet high. The necklace is 
carved in such a way as to represent human 
skulls. Even the gods out here wear jewelry. 
She has great stone legs and arms and looks like 
a thing of strength and power. This is nearly 
a mile away from the nearest house and yet there 
were evidences that worshipers had been there 
that morning. Not far away were other places 
of worship. In one old temple there were about 
a hundred gods, some broken, and others with 
an arm or leg off. They were all thrown in 

[63] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

promiscuously, and one of the missionaries 
remarked that it looked like "scrambled gods." 
And yet at 10 : 30 in the morning those old gods 
were still damp, water having been carried up 
and poured upon them from the sacred wells 
some distance below. It always seems that some 
one has just been there and left, at nearly every 
one of these places of worship. 

As we climbed up and down over these hills 
it seemed as if there was a Hindu god peering 
out at us from nearly every rock. Dozens of rocks 
on these hillsides had images carved in them. 
Little shrines here and there every few feet, and 
under "every green tree" almost, there was a 
place where a man could bow down to either 
wood or stone. A big bunch of long-tailed 
monkeys sighted us and for some time kept at 
a safe distance in front, scrambling over these 
gods, sometimes standing upon them, having no 
respect whatever for their divinity. 

There were several large temples, and in 
one or two of them were separate stalls for the 
gods. And out in the middle of the lake was a 
large temple, which could not be reached ex- 
cept in a boat. This town and community is 
certainly the "garden of the gods." 

But one fact impressed itself upon my mind 
very strongly. Nearly every shrine, temple, and 
place of worship was in a state of decay. Some 
of the larger temples are fairly well kept, but 
that is the exception. The janitors evidently 
have been on strike for the last hundred years. 

[64] 




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MAHOBA 



The gods are old and broken and some of them 
even wear whiskers of moss. No new ones are 
being made. The old thing is the sacred thing 
here. 



It is in such a city and community that the 
missionaries are introducing the Christian re- 
ligion. The golden age of the gods of stone is 
passing and the new age is gradually being 
ushered in. The main emphasis of all work in 
the station and out-stations is evangelistic. It 
is intensive evangelism, through personal work 
and preaching for direct results. The only man 
on the station is C. N. Thompson, who is 
secretary and treasurer of the Mission, general 
manager, and director of the evangelistic work. 
Special emphasis and work is being done in two 
castes, the Koris and Basors. These people live 
in little groups, or mahallahs, in different parts 
of town. They are really little towns within a 
town. The idea is to get the head man of each 
caste and several families to accept Christianity 
and use them in turn to win the rest of the 
caste. A splendid start has been made along 
this line. 

The same general plan of intensive evangel- 
ism is being pushed in the two out-stations, 
Kabrai and Shri Nagar. Mr. Thompson visits 
each of these stations twice each month to en- 
courage the evangelists and to keep in close 

[65] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

touch with the work. It is the plan to put as 
much responsibility upon the Indian church as 
it can successfully carry. 

In the medical work the compounders and 
nurses are continually reminded that theirs is a 
spiritual task. Not a single patient is to pass 
without being told the plan of salvation. The 
educational work is primarily for the making of 
Christians. All in the station feel that while a 
high intellectual standard should be maintained, 
unless the students are clearly given the teach- 
ings of Christ, their efforts would be in vain. 
The Christian teachers are urged to become 
acquainted with the parents of the children 
and visit them regularly in the interest of Chris- 
tianity. 

The Sunday services, conducted by the 
Indian pastor, are not unlike the regular Sun- 
day services elsewhere. But the Mahoba prayer 
meeting is a service of unusual fervency and 
spiritual power. The new program of intensive 
evangelism is manifest in the prayer meeting. 
Not only the missionaries, but the Indian Chris- 
tians, are praying definitely for the winning of 
their fellow Indians to the new religion. And 
how they exhort one another to good works! 
And — is it possible for the American church to 
really understand — these Indian Christians 
upon their knees in the church, fervently pray 
for the coming of a mass movement, when not 
only a few, but hundreds will be won from their 
idolatry every year. 

[66] 



MAHOBA 



Furthermore, surely it will not be thought 
sacrilegious to pull aside the curtain and let the 
church catch a glimse of the weekly private 
prayer meeting of all the missionaries on the 
station. After the evening meal came Miss Pope, 
the trained nurse, who has supervision of the 
hospital, the in-patients, and the Indian nurses. 
Also Miss Ford, who has the care and manage- 
ment of the girls' boarding school. Dr. Bertha 
Thompson had been busy every hour of the 
day with her home, the patients at the hospital, 
and the many people at the dispensary. These 
three ladies, with Mr. Thompson, made just a 
little group of four people. Not even enough to 
have the inspiration of numbers. They gave a 
weekly report of their work, talked over their 
problems, and, tread softly here, upon their 
knees, reached out in prayer for help and 
guidance. Will I ever forget that little prayer 
meeting in Central India? How they prayed 
for the church at home. That it would send out 
more laborers. How they prayed for the Indian 
leaders, that they might remain true and faith- 
ful. And with what faith and earnestness they 
prayed for definite conversions among their 
Indian acquaintances. There was unity and 
power in that little prayer meeting. It seemed 
that such faith and zeal and earnest prayer could 
not go unanswered. 



[67] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

4 

The next morning "Clint" Thompson pulled 
me out of bed at 3:30, and by 4:00 we were on 
the road to the out-station of Kabrai, fourteen 
miles away. As we pulled out into the fine 
macadamized road we saw a very wonderful star 
in the East. The stars seemed to shine more 
brightly than at home. The Great Dipper was 
turned upside down. The Southern Cross was 
shining out in wonderful brilliancy. There was 
not* a cloud in the sky, nor scarcely a breath of 
air stirring. The clatter of the ponies' feet 
echoed among the trees and hills. 

We passed many old dilapidated temples. 
In the day time they look dirty, forsaken and un- 
kept, but at night they seem like the tombs of lost 
Hindu souls. Two miles out we overtook a man, 
scarcely discernible in the darkness, walking 
with a dirty old shawl wrapped around his head, 
his face entirely covered. Farther on the first 
streaks of dawn appeared. We overtook two ox- 
carts, farmers going out to their farms for the 
day. A little farther we met a man going towards 
town, his oxcart piled full of bones. It seemed 
quite in order to meet the bone man on his way 
to the market at this early hour. 

As the stars began to fade away we came to 
a great banyan tree and underneath it was a 
fire. Around the fire were five men who had 
stayed there for the night. Their robes were 
drawn up over their heads and in the grey dawn 
they looked like somber tombs. But one fellow 

[68] 



MAHOBA 



was already awake, singing one of the weird 
Hindi songs, in a minor key. Most of the Indian 
music seems to be in the minor key and some 
of it that I have heard was in no key at all. 

Then we began to see people coming out of 
the fields. They had been there all night to 
drive the wild animals away from the growing 
crops. From now until harvest time these 
farmers must each ''watch in the fields at night." 
They build a small platform five or six feet high 
and from this watchtower they frighten away 
the deer, wild pigs, and other enemies of the 
crops. The people come shivering out of the 
fields to go back to their villages some two or 
three miles away for their morning meal. 

The sun came up between two high, rocky 
hills. At the end of one of the hills, standing out 
in bold relief, was a great rock, the shape of a 
liuge bear, with its front feet up on a large 
boulder. It looked as if the bear had come out 
to see the rising sun. What a clear, beautiful 
sunrise it was, as the sun started on its course, 
with a halo of golden glory around its head. 

Just after sunrise we arrived at the out- 
station and called on the native evangelist there. 
He and his good wife are doing their best to 
establish and make permanent the work. There 
have been a few converts and the communion 
service is held in his little home. There is a 
small Sunday-school of about a dozen people. 
The work is just in its beginning but the outlook 
is hopeful. He told of the head maji of the 

[69] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

— . — . — < 

gardeners' caste, who had come to see him the 
week before and had a long talk about becoming 
a Christian. There were about twenty other 
people whom we had taught and held conferences 
with, who were considering becoming Christians 
all at the same time. A Brahman, who was the 
headmaster of the school, was almost ready to 
take the step. 

What did we see at Kabrai after our long 
journey? An Indian preacher, a couple of mud 
houses, and a few Christians with the ordinary 
Indian village as the background. But that is 
not all that "Clint" Thompson saw. In his eye 
was the picture of the whole gardeners' caste 
being baptized; of the Brahman head master 
making the confession. In short, the vision of 
a redeemed Kabrai. And not only Kabrai, but 
a score of other villages in the Mahoba district, 
transformed by the love of Christ. 

A HOSPITAL SET ON A HILL 



Tne Mahoba hospital building, located on 
the top of a hill, is easily seen from every direc- 
tion. It was built during the time that Dr. Ada 
McNeill Gordon was located in Mahoba. Dr. 
Bertha Thompson was giving attention to the 
in-patients and looking after the dispensary 
across the street. With the care of her two 
children and the stream of people coming to the; 

[70] 



MAHOBA 



dispensary day after day, she was a busy woman. 
During the previous year some fifteen thousand 
treatments had been given at the dispensary. 
There were three thousand new cases. The 
people are required to pay the value of the 
medicines and for services rendered, according 
to their ability. If they are unable to pay they 
of course receive treatment just the same. 

The people come from the city of Mahoba 
and from villages in all directions, from three 
to thirty miles. One man had walked twenty- 
two miles for treatment. He had to have a 
cataract removed from an eye. After the 
tickets were given out for medicine, a preaching 
service was held. The assistant at the dis- 
pensary preached on the text, "Be sure your sin 
will find you out." At the close, when he was try- 
ing to sell copies of the gospels, one man said, "I 
can't read, so I will not buy." The preacher 
replied, "When you receive a letter who reads 
it for you?" The man said, "Oh, I go around over 
the village until I find some man that can read. 
Then he reads my letters for me." "All right," 
said the preacher, "this gospel is a letter from 
God to you and you must get some one in your 
village to read it to you." A number of the gos- 
pels were sold after this talk. 

Now and then Dr. Thompson has special 
calls. One day a man sent her the following 
note: 



[71] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

"Madam: 

My wife is troubled too much and feeling 
very bad. For humanity's sake and to save the 
life of a fellow creature, see her as soon as you 
can. 

Yours faithfully, 

(Signed) Ram Singh." 

One night a non-Christian patient died at 
the hospital. Dr. Thompson was called at 1:00 
A. M. and found the relatives starting up the 
wild, weird wail of the Hindus. She commanded 
them to stop it immediately, and to her great 
surprise, as well as theirs, they obeyed her. 



The trained nurse in charge of the hospital 
proper, the in-patients, and the Indian nurses, 
is Miss Caroline Pope. She has the work well 
organized and everything is kept spick and 
span, for Miss Pope is a spick and span sort of 
a girl. She showed me the linen room, where 
everything is kept as clean and neat as a new 
pin. She also introduced me to the diet kitchen 
where the most scrupulous care is observed in 
the preparation of food for the patients. A 
buffalo cow is kept so that patients may have 
pure milk. In August there were thirty-nine 
in-patients; in September, thirty-seven; in 
October, forty-one; in November, forty- two. 
Individual charts are kept daily on every patient 
by the Indian nurses, so that Miss Pope and the 
doctor may quickly discover the symptoms and 
progress of each case. 

[72] 



MAHOBA 



Four nurses are under training, also two 
compounders, and they are given the most care- 
ful instructions along all lines. 

The operating room is in Class A for 
India. Modern sterilizers are in use, and every- 
thing in order so they can get ready for an 
operation in a hurry. They can quickly steril- 
ize sheets, towels and sponges, and the surgical 
instruments. There is a good lot of surgical 
instruments, well cared for and ready for busi- 
ness. When the doctor wants to have an emer- 
gency operation Miss Pope and her assistants 
lose no time in making preparations for the job. 

There is a purdah room in the corner of the 
hospital buildings, with a separate entrance to 
this room, where the purdah women may come 
and go without coming in contact with the other 
patients. The women seem to like this arrange- 
ment. Their husbands also like it. They know 
that they may send their women there and they 
will receive the best of treatment without their 
customs and ideas of privacy being violated. In 
case it is necessary for a purdah woman to re- 
main in the hospital she has her own private 
room and care. 

Thus the women of high caste and low 
caste, rich and poor, are being cured of both 
their physical and spiritual ills in this house of 
healing on the Mahoba hills. 



[73] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

THE MOTHER OF ONE HUNDRED AND 
FIFTY-SIX 

The old woman who lived in a shoe would 
be considered small potatoes out here in Mahoba 
when compared to Lucile Ford, manager and 
mother of the Girls' Orphanage and Boarding 
School. She comes from a family of nine girls, 
which is almost a small boarding school in itself. 
There are one hundred and fifty-six girls, and 
she is the only missionary who is working 
among them. She has a large staff of native 
women who are her helpers. There are girls 
here from every mission station we have in 
India. Some come in from the jungle country, 
some are orphans, and some pay for the privi- 
ledge of attending school here. If any reader 
is interested in how they feed such a large 
family let him read what I was interested in 
finding out. 

They have rice two meals a day. That is 
the main article of food. They eat about eighty 
pounds of rice a day. That makes a ton each 
month. Sometimes they ship in a whole car- 
load of rice for this school. There is a large 
granary where they keep the rice and wheat 
and pulse. 

There is a large kitchen at one end of the 
building. In this kitchen are the native stoves 
which consist of some brick built up against the 
wall on two sides and across the top a large 



[74] 



MAHOBA 



sheet of iron. The large brass cooking kettles 
are placed on this and a fire built underneath. 

The other foods are cooked in the same way. 
Why these simple stoves? Because they only 
cost two or three dollars to build and the people 
know how to use them. The larger girls are 
taught to do the cooking. They cook on these 
same big iron sheets their chapatis — cakes of un- 
leavened bread. It is wheat flour mixed with 
water and cooked in pieces about like a pan- 
cake. They cook about thirteen dozen of these 
chapatis every day. 

Where do they get the flour? Well, they 
buy the wheat at the bazaar and grind it in their 
own mills. There is a grinding room near the 
kitchen. In this grinding room there are eight 
chakkis — little stone mills. One large flat stone 
on top of another with a small hole down in the 
center where the wheat is put in. On the upper 
stone there is a handle with which it is turned. 

The girls do all the grinding. Two girls 
work at one mill, and each mill must grind two 
seers — about two quarts every day. Thus flour 
comes much cheaper than buying it at the store. 
Early in the morning the grinders for the day 
get up and do the work before breakfast. They 
retire at seven at night so that it is not a hard- 
ship for them to be about early. 

When the girls had finished their break- 
fast they washed their own plates in large 
cement tanks. They put them in the plate room 
and the dishes were ready for the next meal, 

[75] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

No doubt American girls would be glad if their 
dishes could be done that quickly. 

I then had a chance to visit their bedrooms. 
The beds are made on the floor, built up with 
brick and cement about a foot high. The nearest 
thing I could think of, that they looked like, was 
a row of flat cement tombstones about a foot 
apart. The girls each have a large heavy rug 
which they lay on this bed, and two blankets for 
use in colder weather. Do you say that they 
ought to have real beds? Those are real beds 
to them. Better than they have ^ever slept in 
before. If you gave them our kind they would 
not sleep in them; at least the majority would 
not. 

Every night Lucile goes out to see that they 
are all in bed and that everything is in order for 
the night. When the influenza epidemic was on 
there were seventy-five girls sick at one time. 
Then Miss Ford abandoned her own comfortable 
bed in the mission bungalow and lived with those 
suffering girls. She slept there with them several 
nights, at least she was there trying to sleep, but 
up at any call, to mother and help those who 
needed her. 

/Miss Ford is a shark on sanitary conditions 
and sees to it that nothing is left undone to keep 
the place as clean as possible. This not only 
applies to the grounds, but also to the girls them- 
selves. The lake is about a block away and the 
girls are required to go regularly to the lake to 
bathe. She also sees to it that they brush their 

[76] 



MAHOBA 



teeth. I wondered where she got enough tooth 
brushes and powder for such a large family. 
Nature furnishes the brushes — their fingers — 
and Miss Ford has taught them how to make 
their own powder. Many of the older readers 
remember how to make tooth powder out of 
charcoal. Well, that is what is done here. In 
these native stoves there is charcoal in abund- 
ance, and it is still a question in Miss Ford's 
mind if that is not really better than Colgate's 
or Pepsodent. And it does not cost a cent, or a 
pice, as they would say out here. 

There is a little hospital ward for any who 
may be sick and they are given the best attention. 
There are also rooms for the native teachers, 
where they sleep and keep their own things. 
There are two or three open places where the 
children play and exercise, much of it directed 
play. They play all kinds of girl games — drop 
the handkerchief, hide and seek, swing, London 
Bridge is falling down, and many native games. 

At nine o'clock all the girls go to school. 
They are properly graded according to govern- 
ment requirements, and all of the branches are 
taught. For this service of education the Govern- 
ment gives the school a grant-in-aid of fifty 
rupees a month. I was present at the chapel 
hour of the school. One of the teachers read 
the daily reading in connection with the Sunday- 
school lesson, and they sang a Christian song, 
and had prayer. The teachers rotate in leading 
this chapel service. 

[77] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

Lucile Ford got much of her training in St. 
Louis at the Orphanage of the National Benev- 
olent Association. "Uncle Jimmy" Mohorter 
can testify to her devotion and faithfulness. I 
asked her how she liked these little brown 
children as compared with those in St. Louis. 
She said: "They're all the same to me. They are 
the dearest little things, and I love them just as 
much as I did those in America." 

When Sunday comes Mother Ford and her 
one hundred and fifty-six children put on their 
best Sunday clothes and go to Sunday-school. 
They march two by two down around the beauti- 
ful shade trees on the lake front to the nice big 
brick church. They certainly add much to the 
singing as nearly all the girls know these songs 
by heart. They fill up one whole side of the 
church. 

The hope of India is largely wrapped up in 
the girls and women. Without educated girls 
and women the Christian homes of India will 
never be what they ought to be. This institu- 
tion is making a real contribution to the pro- 
gram of establishing the Kingdom in the needy 
land of India. 

I knew "Lucy" Ford as a student in Cotner 
College. I knew her then as one of the most 
faithful, conscientious, and unselfish girls in the 
school. I have seen her at Mahoba, and have 
felt something of her spirit. May her tribe in- 
crease. 



[78] 



CHAPTER IV 



MAUDAHA 



CHAPTER IV 

MAUDAHA 

A STIRRING IN THE MULBERRY TREES 



It is hard to record the impressions which 
come trooping through the mind in visiting a 
place like Maudaha, an unattractive village, with 
a population that is hostile, and with a mixture 
of both Mohammedans and Hindus. One is 
immediately confronted with the difficulties and 
the seeming impossibility of the task. The 
Mission bungalow is located a half mile out of 
town, but there is a small cement building in the 
town, used for a dispensary for part of the time. 
Near this building are the homes of the evan- 
gelists. I was awakened early in the morning 
by a rising bell and heard S. G. Rothermel bust- 
ling about in his usual manner. I hustled out as 
quickly as possible and found a group of some 
twenty or thirty people assembled on the 
veranda for morning prayers and Bible instruc- 
tion. The meeting lasted a half hour. A song 
or two and prayers and then a Bible lesson taught 
by one of the evangelists. These people are all 
new in the Christian life and it was necessary 

[81] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

to instruct them line upon line, precept upon pre- 
cept. During the days following I found that 
this was the regular daily program. 

Rothermel is demonstrating a new kind of 
evangelism. It used to be considered good mis- 
sion policy to make many tours, camp at a given 
place, preach to all the villages within a radius 
of six miles, then move camp and repeat the 
process. In this way the Indian evangelists got 
the idea that they were merely seed sowers and 
not reapers. These villages could only be 
reached once or twice a year which was not 
enough for sufficient teaching to win the people 
from their idolatry. The result was that the 
evangelists had almost come to the place where 
they did not expect converts. 

Rothermel's plan is to have more concen- 
tration. He believes not only in preaching to the 
masses but directly to the individual. He set as 
the aim of the station, twelve baptisms in a given 
year. The Indian preachers did not believe it 
could be done. But he has emphasized this idea 
of definite personal work constantly, and it is 
beginning to bear fruit. The first year of the 
new program there were six baptisms, three 
from caste. The second year there were ten 
baptisms, four from caste. The third year there 
were seven baptisms, six from caste. The fourth 
year there were twenty-five baptisms, all but one 
from caste. The whole church is now at work 
with a new hope. 



[82] 






MAUD AH A 



Two out-stations were established with one 
native evangelist living in one and two in the 
other, with their families. Sunday-school at 
Maudaha had an average attendance of about 
one hundred. In one of the out-stations many 
of the children are afraid to come to Sunday- 
school because their parents have threatened 
to punish them if they do. 

Once a month these workers come in to 
Maudaha for the conference of all workers last- 
ing from Friday through the following Monday. 
The workers are required to give a monthly re- 
port in writing. In addition to this each one 
gives a verbal report telling of the discourage- 
ments, as well as the hopeful things. Classes of 
instruction are held and lectures are given on 
Bible study and evangelism. On Sunday all of the 
workers have the fellowship of the communion 
and the preaching service. On Monday night a 
social is held, in which all the Christians partici- 
pate. Rothermel did some sleight of hand per- 
formances; I did one or two; and then the Indian 
Christians pulled off some stunts that would have 
done credit to an American High School or 
College crowd. Refreshments were served and 
everybody went out for another month of the 
hardest kind of work. 



The evangelistic outfit of an Indian mis- 
sionary is most interesting indeed. First of 
course is his New Testament, but a close second 

[83] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

is a good pair of scissors to cut off the hair and 
beads of the Hindus who accept the teaching of 
the New Testament. In addition to these, 
Rothermel had a lot more evangelistic para- 
phernalia. He has a tonga, that is, a horse and 
a two- wheel cart; he has a motorcycle, with a 
side car ; he has a bicycle ; he has a yoke of oxen 
and an oxcart. There is also a yoke of large 
buffaloes and a cart to transport the tents and 
baggage when they go on tours. In these various 
ways he is able to get out to the great multitude 
of people who live in the villages around 
Maudaha. However there is nearly three months 
during the rainy season when he cannot reach 
the villages by any of these means of travel. He 
must go on foot, or on horseback. But go he 
must and does, and his faith goes forward to 
the day when the mass movement will come in 
that section of India and large numbers will be 
won from the old life to the new. 

3 
Mrs. Rothermel is a physician, but with the 
care of her children and her home, has not been 
able to give as much time to medical work as she 
had hoped. Every morning the people come for 
medicine to the veranda of her home. She spends 
an hour or more in looking after their needs. 
She also supervises a little school for the child- 
ren. This school is taught by two Indian teachers 
and is held under a banyan tree near the Mission 
bungalow. 

[84] 



MAUD AH A 



4 

Mr. Rothermel is also assisting in the 
organization of co-operative credit societies or 
banks. Three of these organizations are now 
perfected. One among the chamars, one among 
the Christians, and one among the basors — the 
sweepers, basket makers and swine herders. 

A conference was held with a new group of 
chamars for the organization of a fourth society. 
About a dozen tall fellows, with their interesting 
headdress on, sat down upon the veranda to com- 
plete the organization. The agent was present, 
who goes from place to place and assists when 
all of the preliminary plans have been made. 
The organizations are semi-official and the 
people fully understand that they are signing 
a legal document when they put their names to 
the notes or mortgages. 

During the time that the matters were being 
fully explained by Mr. Rothermel and the agent, 
the missionary kept sandwiching in some gospel 
teaching. He would say something like this: 
''What would the high caste Brahman do if you 
would try to get a loan from him?" They would 
reply, "He would charge us seventy-five percent 
or kick us out." "And what would the rich Mo- 
hammedans say to you?" And they would reply, 
"They would kick us out, too." "Aha," ex- 
claimed Rothermel, "the Brahmans and the 
Mohammedans are your own people and yet they 
oppose you and treat you like slaves, and here 



[85] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

you are on my porch and the Mission is helping 
you to secure a loan to feed your families until 
harvest time. Who is your real friend?" And 
they replied in concert, "Sahib, Sahib, you are 
our friend; you are our father and mother." 
"Yes," replied Rothermel, "but why do I do it? 
It's because of my religion; it's Jesus Christ in 
my heart. The Christians always help the poor. 
They are doing this at Rath and Mahoba as well 
as for you. Now, who are your friends?" And 
the men replied, "The Christians, Sahib, the 
Christians are our friends." Then Rothermel 
pressed the point home. "Well then, you ought 
to be Christians, and you ought to tell all of your 
friends and your neighbors about the Jesus 
religion. Your whole caste ought to become 
Christians. Every day you ought to give three 
cheers for the Christians." 

All this between explanations of the legal 
papers, getting the small committee of three 
appointed out of their own number, who should 
act for the group, agreeing upon how much each 
man could borrow, and in getting the promises 
from each man as well as the whole group, that 
the money would be used for the purpose for 
which it was borrowed and that the money would 
be collected and repaid immediately after har- 
vest. And when all was fully understood the 
signatures were placed upon the legal document. 
Only one man of the twelve could write his 
name. The others signed by their thumb prints. 
The agent would press their thumbs on the ink 

[86] 



MAUD AH A 



pad then press them firmly on the margin of 
the paper and write each man's name under- 
neath his own thumb prints. These men put 
their thumb prints on this document as seriously 
as if they had been signing the Declaration of 
Independence, or a new Constitution for India. 
The largest borrower received rupees twenty and 
the smallest amount received was rupees six. 
The money was all in silver rupees, and each 
man tested his money out on the cement veranda 
to see that it had the proper ring. They can 
detect counterfeit money instantly. 

As these men bade the Christian Sahib 
salaam and went off down the long dusty road 
they seemed happy because they had found what 
to them was a real friend. How much they knew 
and comprehended about their Unseen Friend 
is problematical, yet sometime, if the present 
program in Maudaha continues, they will surely 
know and understand. 

JAGGANATH, THE "WITNESS BEARER" 

There is a saying in the New Testament that 
it takes the simple things to confound the 
mighty. To form the acquaintance of a plain 
simple man named Jagganath, at Maudaha, is a 
confirmation of the truth of that statement. 

Jagganath came many years ago as a young 
man and worked for Mr. Davis, who was Mr. 
Rothermel's predecessor at Maudaha. He did not 
become a Christian, although he had been taught 

[87] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

many years. Mr. Rothermel inherited him and 
found that he was "gospel hardened." His work 
was unsatisfactory and finally he was discharged. 
Later he was re-employed but still resisted the 
gospel. He became very ill with influenza. The 
evangelists visited him, supplied the family with 
food and water and were kind to him in every 
way. The Bible women helped cook the food 
and assisted his wife in her care of him. 

Finally Jagganath called in his relatives and 
told them that he was convinced, through the 
kindness of the Bible women, the evangelists and 
the missionary, that Christianity was true, and 
that whether he got well or not he would become 
a Christian. They scolded him, threatened him, 
but he insisted that his purpose would not 
change. One night while he was still sick they 
set fire to his house and burned it to the ground, 
and as he dragged himself out of the burning 
building he resolved to become a Christian at 
the first opportunity. He did so. And when he 
was fully recovered he requested the Mission to 
allow him to become a preacher. 

Jagganath become a preacher? It was un- 
thinkable. He was illiterate, could neither read 
nor write, and his looks — well, he would take 
last place in a beauty contest. But his heart 
was right and they soon found that he was in 
earnest. He insisted that he could tell the "Jesus 
story" to his friends. He did not know enough 
to be a preacher or an evangelist, but finally the 
church, because of his earnestness and consecra- 

[88] 



MAUD AH A 



tion, decided to give him employment. They 
had to create a new office for him. They called 
him "Witness-bearer." His chief business was 
to go among the people and sit down with them 
and tell them what the Christian religion meant 
to him. 

He could not preach to the crowd, but he 
could sit down with a man by the wayside and 
make him understand, by his personal testimony. 
He did what his new title implied, bore witness 
every day and many hours a day to the new 
Christian joy in his own heart. And what was 
the result? Mr. Rothermel says that he has won 
more converts than any other one man in the 
station. Through his efforts fifteen chamars 
have come out of caste and accepted Christianity. 

It might not be a bad policy for the church 
at home to add a new office, that of witness- 
bearer, to the officiary of the church. But how 
much better it would be if every member would 
voluntarily live up to the teachings of Jesus 
when he said "Ye are my witnesses." 

It is my judgment that it is a necessary 
thing in all mission lands to have men entirely 
free from institutional work such as schools, 
hospitals, printing presses, etc., who can give 
undivided attention to the evangelistic work. 
The program at Maudaha is most certainly com- 
mendable and is bound to bring an abundant 
harvest in the years to come. 



[89] 



CHAPTER V 



RATH 



CHAPTER V 
RATH 

AT THE JUNGLE STATION OF RATH 



Twenty-nine miles off the railroad lies the 
jungle station of Rath. It is reached by tonga 
and oxcart. I was lucky enough to be taken 
from Maudaha to Rath in Mr. Rothermel's 
motorcycle. 

But one missionary family, that of John 
Bierma, lives in this interior village of about 
eleven thousand. It is a beautiful little village, 
nicely laid out streets, quite a number of better 
built houses, and the people are friendly. How- 
ever, as far as missionary accomplishments are 
concerned, we are just at the beginning. There 
is a neat little church building, with a member- 
ship of about ten families. There are four Sun- 
day-schools, with an average attendance of about 
two hundred. No day schools are conducted 
either in Rath, or in the outside villages. There 
is only one out-station in connection with the 
work at Rath. 

[93] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

Two evangelists are busy all the time 
preaching to the people in Rath and in the 
villages. I made a trip with Mr. Bierma, reach- 
ing the first village, some four miles away, for 
a service at 7:00 A. M. It was necessary to 
arrive early before the people went to the fields. 
About forty people gathered under a banyan tree 
in the center of the town to hear the songs and 
the teaching. Several goats, dogs and buffaloes 
were also present. The people listened eagerly. 

When the service was over, the evangelists 
offered Gospels for sale, and a few people bought 
them. One old man shook his head and said, 
"Why should I buy, I cannot read." That was 
literally true of all but five people in the total 
population of about two hundred. There is not 
now, and never has been, a school in this village. 
Do you ask why Mr. Bierma does not establish 
a school there? This is the answer. In the 
Rath district there are two hundred and thirty- 
four such villages. There are schools of some kind 
in only eighty-three of them. That leaves one 
hundred and fifty-one villages entirely without 
a school of any kind. It would take one hun- 
dred and fifty-one teachers, that number of 
buildings, besides text books, slates, etc., to solve 
this neglected educational problem. Mr. Bierma 
has neither time nor money, nor the teachers, to 
do the job. He is the only missionary of any 
church in this whole district, which has a popula- 
tion of nearly one hundred and fifty thousand. 



[94] 



RATH 



The whole job is yet before us in this jungle 
station. 

2 

A rather interesting experiment is being 
conducted in the city of Rath. There had never 
been a public library in the history of the town. 
Furthermore, there is not a public library in any 
of the two hundred and thirty-four villages in 
the district. About two years ago, the question 
of the organization of a Library Association was 
agitated. Problem : How could the co-operation 
of Hindus, Mohammedans and Christians be 
secured? Easy enough. Representatives of each 
on the Library Committee. When the Committee 
was organized it voluntarily elected Mr. Bierma 
as president. The next step was the formation 
and adoption of a constitution. Mr. Bierma 
wrote out a constitution, with the constitution of 
the United Christian Missionary Society before 
him as a model. This was read to the committee 
and unanimously adopted. 

The club is composed of all "those worthy 
literate men (note that nothing is said of 
women) who support the project by contribu- 
tions paid each month, or paid one year's total 
in advance." The monthly fees are rupees 1:8 
to two annas, depending upon the standing and 
ability of the donor. A building up town was 
rented which provided for a library room, a 
game room, and a place for the co-operative 
society to meet. This young library has two 

[95] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

hundred volumes. It has one hundred Hindi 
books, fifty English books, and fifty books in 
Urdu. Daily papers, in English and Hindi, come 
to the library. The librarian elected was one of 
the Christian men of the Rath church. There 
has been no stampede of the people to get these 
books from the library, although a number of the 
people have taken out cards and have read some 
of the books. One of the great problems is to 
secure interesting, readable books in Hindi. 
Both the Mohammedans and Hindus, as well as 
the Christians, are rather proud of the new 
letter heads and envelopes, bearing the follow- 
ing imprint: "Public Library Institute, Rath, 
United Provinces." And they may well be proud, 
for is it not the only library in the whole dis- 
trict? 



Another approach to the people is the in- 
fluence of the co-operative credit societies. The 
purpose of these organizations is to lend money 
to the people at a cheap rate of interest, to assist 
them to buy seed grain for their crops. Four of 
these have now been organized with one hundred 
and eighty-four men as charter members. Thus 
these men are freed from the covetousness of 
the professional money lenders. Each society 
is usually formed from the men of one caste. 
The group then becomes responsible for the 
loan of each member. The head men of the 
caste sign the notes and the whole caste is re- 

[96] 



RATH 



sponsible for each man paying back his loan. 
With this kind of an arrangement, some of the 
well to do Indian men of the better type will 
loan money to the credit society, knowing that 
they run but little risk in so doing. 

Some fifteen acres of ground have been 
secured to assist the Christian people to make 
a living. A new type of sugar corn has been 
introduced, also potato raising, and the raising 
of seed wheat on a small scale. It is the hope 
that the people will receive the proper training 
so that they can later take land and make a liv- 
ing for themselves. By these different approaches 
to the hearts of the people some are being won 
to the Kingdom. Within the past few months 
eight have been baptized, six of them from caste. 

. AN INTERVIEW WITH PT. NANDKISHARE 
SHARMA 

While at Rath I had the pleasure of inter- 
viewing and being interviewed by an Indian 
gentleman who is one of the divisional superin- 
tendents of agriculture in the district. His 
official title is as follows: "Pt. Nandkishare 
Sharma, Honorary Magistrate, United Provinces, 
Agriculture Service." He traveled twenty miles 
on horseback and in oxcart to see me. He was 
a wide-awake, practical and cultured gentleman. 
He spoke both Hindi and English fluently. He 
attended the service in the church and when I 
needed an interpreter for my speech he gladly 

[97] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

1 

volunteered, and in his interpretation elaborated 
upon, and polished up my speech so that it was 
quite respectable. He did not fail to tell the 
people what I ought to have said, when I failed 
to say it. 

In our interview he told me many interest- 
ing things about the people and the farm prob- 
lems of India. The government maintains 
twenty small demonstration farms in the United 
Provinces. They only plan one such farm for each 
one thousand square miles. On these farms they 
only show a small advance at one time, so the 
people can comprehend it. The growing of 
wheat is demonstrated in the old way and the 
new way, in little fields side by side. Then when 
people come to visit the farm, seeing is believing. 

There are no silos in India. The farms are 
too small. The average farm for all the United 
Provinces is not more than four or five acres, 
and this is about the average for all of India. 
This man thinks it is a great disadvantage to 
the farm to have the people living in the 
villages; that the farms would be greatly en- 
riched and better kept, and would be much more 
productive, if the people lived on the farms. 

He says that seventy per cent of the people 
make their living by agriculture. Yet ninety- 
eight per cent of the people live in the cities, 
towns and villages. The farms have deteriorated 
for generations. In the last few years he thinks 
a new era has begun. Demonstration farms, 
the selection of seeds, and better methods of 

[98] 



RATH 

farming have been introduced. The average 
yield of wheat per acre for the whole Province 
is seven bushels. On the demonstration farms 
the average yield is twenty-six bushels. He says 
the American missionaries have helped greatly 
along this line. 

This gentleman thinks that agricultural 
missionaries would be very useful in that part 
of India. The new program is only in its be- 
ginning and will take much persuasion and 
demonstration to get the slow-moving people to 
change from the old to the new. He very naively 
suggested that these agricultural men who come 
should have women ("females") as their wives, 
who are canning experts. They could teach the 
Indian women how to can and preserve food. 
They do not know the advantage of canning and 
do not know how to do it. Hence before the next 
crop is ready for harvest the people are out of 
food and have to borrow. It is his experience 
that the women, when shown, take on the new 
things quicker than the men. But he says that 
only the "females'" can teach these women. 

He thinks the missionaries are doing a 
splendid service in India. They help in times of 
famine; they teach the children; they establish 
hospitals, where medicine is dispensed; and they 
are friendly to the people. He thinks the Ameri- 
can missionaries are more economical and set 
better examples before the people than do the 
English officials. While he himself is a Hindu, 
he thinks that Christianity is more unselfish 

[99] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

than Hinduism. He says that thousands of 
people are losing interest in their old religion, 
their old beliefs, and their old superstitions,. 
He is not sure that Christianity will come to 
reign throughout India, but he is sure that it has 
a fine, leavening influence upon all the people, 
rich and poor alike. 

It is a very interesting life in these jungle 
stations in the outer districts. But it is most 
certainly not a monotonous life. Every day a 
new responsibility, and every day insistent 
claims upon the Christian man's time and sym- 
pathy. These families who are living alone must 
get very homesick now and then, for they go 
weeks and sometimes months without seeing 
another white face. The two Bierma girls, 
about five and seven, have no playmates but the 
brown-faced boys and girls of Rath. But He 
who promised to be with them always is a con- 
stant companion, and some good day the King- 
dom shall grow and prosper in the jungle. 



[100] 



CHAPTER VI 
KULPAHAR 



CHAPTER VI 

KULPAHAR 

KULPAHAR, THE PLACE OF MANY MOUNTAINS 

The institution at Kulpahar may well be 
called an institution of the women, by the 
women, and for the women. It was founded and 
has been maintained by the Woman's Board. Its 
management and oversight is by the women 
missionaries. The inmates are women and girls 
and small boys under six years of age. It is the 
only institution of its kind we have in India. 

Agriculturally, it is almost a young farm. 
The grounds cover about twenty acres. The 
women have two yoke of oxen to do the farm 
work, and a third yoke for the use of the evan- 
gelists. The evangelistic work outside of the in- 
stitution is directed by an evangelistic mission- 
ary, a man, and of course by the use of native 
men evangelists. But all of the institutional work 
is managed by the women. 



Miss Zonetta Vance showed me around the 
farm. The first thing we saw was a large patch 
of peanuts. The ground was plowed by the oxen 

[103] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

but the women planted them, the women hoed 
them, the women digged them, and the women 
market them. Some are sold to the women 
themselves, some in the villages, and some are 
sold to the missionaries in other stations. 

We next went to inspect the lime kiln, where 
about twenty people were employed in building 
up the materials ready to burn. It takes about 
a week to build and another to burn the kiln. 

The mixing of the lime and sand for build- 
ing purposes is a very interesting process. They 
have a large circular ditch about eighteen inches 
deep. In this they pour one part lime and two 
parts sand and then pour water in the ditch. It 
is then mixed by the use of a great stone wheel 
drawn round and round by a yoke of oxen. The 
wheel is about a foot thick. It took seventeen 
men to roll that stone wheel out from town 
where it was bought. 

There is a brick yard about a mile away 
where the tile brick for the roofs for buildings 
is burned. They make there the tile for the 
roofs for all the buildings except for the mis- 
sionary homes. 

The ladies raised a good sized patch of 
kaffir corn. It was a great sight to see them har- 
vesting this crop. Early in the morning Miss 
Vance and Miss Clarke started across the road 
with about thirty or forty women, each armed 
with a small knife with which to cut the ripened 
grain. Such chattering and buzzing you never 
heard unless you have been in India. They 

[104] 






KULPAHAR 



entered the tall grain and pulled down the heads 
in order to cut them off, and piled them on large 
pieces of cloth in which they were later tied up 
and carried on their heads back to the com- 
pound. For two or three hours they were as 
busy as bees. Each woman seemed to be spurred 
on to her best efforts by the rest of the crowd 
and all worked with a hearty good will. 

The rest of the grounds was a place of ex- 
traordinary interest. There were three patches 
of potatoes, a part of them grown from govern- 
ment seed. There was more than an acre of 
chana, a pulse, or lentil, that has a seed like 
a small pea. The tops can be cut twice and used 
for greens. The seed is ground up into flour. 
There was another field of a special kind of 
grass, which can be cut at least six times a year 
for hay and fodder. 

There were several nice tomato patches and 
the tomatoes were ripe the middle of December, 
and they are certainly fine eating. There was 
also a fine patch of caster-oil beans. They make 
these up into crude axle grease for the oxcarts, 
but they also refine some of it for medicine and 
for sale. 

There are also little patches of butter beans, 
sweet corn for roasting ears, beds of peas, tur- 
nips, kohlrabi, and a gooseberry patch. This last 
might be called a gooseberry-adapted, for the 
fruit is much like a ground cherry. There was 
also a cabbage patch. And Miss Mattie Burgess, 
who has been twenty-seven years in India, might 

[105] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

well be called the "Indian Mrs. Wiggs of the Cab- 
bage Patch." It was an interesting sight to see 
her in the garden with a little native hoe and a 
water pot looking after the seed beds in a 
motherly sort of a way, to see that the ground 
was in proper condition, and that the tiny grow- 
ing sprouts were getting enough water to drink. 

In the orchard there was an orange grove 
with about thirty fine trees and the fruit was 
just ripe. These Indian oranges are much like 
tangerines. I stood in the midst of this fine 
grove and ate two oranges from the tops of those 
beautiful young trees. There were several large 
holes in the ground, fertilized, ready for the 
planting of more orange trees. There were a 
few peach trees but the ladies had discovered 
that peaches do not thrive well and they are 
planting the orchards with other kinds of fruit. 

There was a small guava grove, also some 
custard apple trees, and some mango trees. The 
mango is the great fruit crop of India. There 
were four banana patches on the compound. 
There were also lime trees, lemon, figs, pome- 
granates, and karaunda, a fruit like cranberry. 
There were also a few pomelo trees, an enlarged 
edition of grape fruit. There were palms and 
palm fruit. There were three mahuva trees. 
This is a rare fruit, the plants having been 
obtained from the government botanical gardens. 
From the time the fruit comes on the trees until 
it is ripened and picked, the women watch these 
orchards day and night, to keep the crows, the 

[106] 



KULPAHAR 



monkeys and the flying foxes from destroying 
the fruit. 

These gardens and the orchards are all 
irrigated. The irrigation process is supervised 
by the lady missionaries. The water for the 
irrigation is drawn from a great well in the 
center of the grounds. It is drawn by a yoke 
of oxen in a huge leather bucket as large as a 
half barrel. One woman drives the oxen and 
two women empty the water into the large 
cement tank. They work four hours each morn- 
ing and two hours in the afternoon every day 
during the dry season to keep enough water for 
the crops. 

In India the men wear a topi to protect the 
head from the sun, and it is improper to even 
take off your hat to the ladies when you are in 
the sun. But I confess that after seeing this 
wonderful compound, with the gardens, the 
orchards, the irrigation process, the building 
program, and all of the other manifold work 
being carried on, I wanted to get in the shade of 
a banyan tree somewhere, and take off my hat 
to these ladies who are doing such a fine job 
along lines that are commonly supposed to be 
the work of men. It should be kept in mind that 
the work upon this small farm is being done by 
the women of the institution, under the direction 
of the lady missionaries. They move the dirt 
for the mud buildings, they cut the grass, they 
keep the ground in good shape, and a person 
entering this institution, not knowing what it 

[107] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

was, would naturally think that it was a small 
government demonstration farm. 



But this agricultural program is only one 
phase of the great work that is being carried on 
at Kulpahar. There is a school for the women. 
They gather in the church building for morning 
prayers at 7:30. They sing a morning song. 
They then have roll call. Miss Mary Clarke has 
charge of these morning exercises and each 
woman answers to her name "sab kiya," which 
means "all done." That is, that they have done 
all of the work in their little homes before they 
came to school. They have washed their dishes, 
cleaned out their fire-places, swept the floors, 
and done their hair, etc. Whenever a woman 
fails to answer "sab kiya" Miss Clarke knows she 
has been loafing on the job. After the prayers 
and the reports, the orders are given for the 
work of the day. Some are to work in the 
gardens, some to clean the yards, others to look 
after the orchards. The women are much more 
contented when they have something definite 
to do, and these wise lady missionaries see to it 
that the schedule of the day keeps their hands 
and minds busy. 

In the afternoon the regular school work 
begins. There are six classes of girls and women. 
These classes are organized along the regular 
school lines and go up through the fourth grade. 

[108] 



KULPAHAR 



There is a class for new girls and women who 
have just come into the home and cannot read 
or write. 

There is also a class for the blind. They 
have little brass slates made by a firm in Chicago. 
The teacher went to a special school for the 
blind and learned how to teach. They have both 
a first year class and a second year class. One 
girl wrote for me and read with her fingers, 
"Jesus said unto them, I am the living bread." 
Their reading book is a big book with the "blind" 
letters containing the Gospel of Luke and the 
Acts of the Apostles. A number of these blind 
women have accepted Christ and are regular 
members of the church. 

There is also a children's school for little 
boys and girls about five and six years of age, or 
under. Native teachers were in charge of about 
fifty children. They led the children in acting 
out the songs. The chief purpose of this kinder- 
garten school is to teach the children to play. 
Someone has said that the only animal that 
doesn't know how to play in India is the Indian 
child. Considerable time of the missionaries 
and the teachers in all of our Indian schools is 
given to teaching the children to play. Strange 
feelings of emotion came over me as I saw those 
little brown faced boys and girls standing in a 
row, at attention, and singing "God Save the 
King." 

There is really no proper place in the in- 
stitution for these boys and girls, for the in- 

[109] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

stitution primarily is a woman's home. Plans 
are under way for the erection of "a little boy's 
home," across the road from the present build- 
ing. These boys are too small to attend board- 
ing school at Damoh, and it was thought wise 
to build such a home at Kulpahar, so that at their 
tender age they might have the supervision and 
care of the lady missionaries. This home, when 
completed, including a neat bungalow for the 
women in charge, will cost about eight thousand 
dollars. 

3 

The Sunday program is different. Nearly 
two hundred women sat on the floor with their 
white saris on. They were practically all bare- 
footed. This church building is a long, clean 
room with whitewashed walls. The women sang 
without the organ and they lifted the tunes 
vociferously. Many of them had song books. 
After the opening exercises the women go out 
in the yard for the teaching of the lesson. They 
sit in the sun because it is warmer at that 
time of the year, and there is no heating plant 
in the building. It was a very beautiful sight 
to see those little groups in their white dresses, 
seated all over the yard, with their Indian 
teachers standing before them teaching the 
lesson. Miss Clarke reported that every woman 
in the institution was present at Sunday-school. 
And every woman had studied her lesson before 
she came to the class. The reason for this is 

[110] 



KULPAHAR 



that in their plans for their daily Bible lesson 
they study the Sunday-school lesson regularly 
every Friday. Including the children there are 
about two hundred in the institution. 

Following the classes in the yard a review 
of the lesson is conducted as part of the closing 
exercises. This is done by one of the Bible 
women who asks questions about the lesson. 
She is very expert at this and the women in the 
audience answered promptly and in most cases 
correctly. 

Later on there was a communion service 
held. This is conducted by the native evangel- 
ists, one of whom, a gray-haired man, has 
been many years in the work and is considered 
the pastor of the church. He read from the New 
Testament, explained the meaning of the com- 
munion, and the women were very quiet and 
reverent while the service was going on. Many 
of them are members of the church and they 
enjoy that service more than any other during 
the entire week. 

Another part of this institution is the girls' 
compound and training home. Each house is 
large enough for four girls. These are nice, 
neat little rooms, and the girls take a pride in 
keeping their homes neat and nicely decorated. 
Each group of four does its own cooking. They 
have a little flour mill — two stones with which 
they grind their wheat. They have their own 
little cooking pots and little stove on the floor 
which they make themselves. One girl had her 

[111] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

room very nicely decorated with pictures, among 
them an Easter card from Northampton, Massa- 
chusetts. 



A very interesting part of the work at 
Kulpahar is the embroidery and sewing depart- 
ment. Twelve women use most of their spare 
time in making and repairing the clothing for 
the fifty children. 

There was regular class work in needle 
work and embroidery, and Miss Thorpe, a young 
missionary, was in charge of this class. She 
had forty in the class and they worked two hours 
in the morning and two hours in the afternoon 
under her supervision. The girls all sat on the 
floor in a big airy sewing room. A table sat in 
front next to the teacher's desk upon which 
thread was kept and other materials. Miss 
Thorpe says she has to keep a constant watch 
upon the girls for many of them do not want to 
wear their thimbles. The beginners are taught 
hemstitching and the more advanced ones do 
the more intricate work. Some of the finer 
pieces of embroidery take three or four weeks 
for one girl to finish. 

The fine linen and cotton materials are 
ordered wholesale from Ireland and Calcutta. 
The patterns are received from a Boston firm 
and are filed in a pattern cabinet. The designs 
are drawn in a big book and a record is carefully 
kept as to what designs go on certain pieces of 

[112] 



KULPAHAR 



cloth. A careful record is kept on these pieces 
of embroidery, the price of the cloth, the stamp- 
ing, the labor and the laundry, so that when a 
piece comes out of the shop they are able to 
accurately estimate the cost of its production. 

After the girls learn this work they are paid 
for their labor so that they may become self- 
supporting. The regular allowance for the girls 
is six rupees per month for food and clothing. 
Little books are kept for each girl to check up on 
what she does, and how her account stands, and 
she can see her record at any time. They take 
their own money, buy their own grain, grind it, 
cook it, and they are thus taught the manage- 
ment and care of their own homes. If they de- 
sire to buy fish, meat, and extra vegetables in the 
market, they may do so. 

The Kulpahar embroidery has now become 
quite famous. They get orders from nearly all 
parts of India. So much so that they are unable 
to supply all of the orders. People often write in 
and send patterns and ask that the pattern be 
worked upon the cloth. Parcels of their em- 
broidery work are often shipped upon approval 
to different parts of India. People who know 
about the work will write in and request that 
certain pieces be shipped to them upon approval, 
but they rarely ever come back because to see 
these fine pieces of embroidery is almost sure to 
mean a sale. One order came from a woman 
near Calcutta, seven hundred miles away. She 
had heard of the work while visiting at Darjeel- 

[113] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

ing, which is a thousand miles away. Another 
woman took a parcel of the embroidery work 
to Australia, and the wife of an English official 
who had formerly lived in India, wrote back 
from England ordering some special pieces. 
They have done work for the wives of the 
English officials, one order coming from the 
Major General's wife. 

One day while I was there, the wife of the 
Internal Revenue Collector came to buy some 
embroidery. She had bought some for her wed- 
ding; she had also bought most of her first 
baby's clothes, and now she wanted some for 
Christmas presents for her friends. 

All of this embroidery is washed and ironed 
before it is sold. The ladies have in mind the 
building of a large wash room for this finer 
work. They also need a shop for selling it so 
that it will be separate from their homes, as there 
are many people who come to inspect and buy. 
They feel that such a modest building could be 
partly paid for from the profits. It is proverbial 
that women can stretch a dollar and make it go 
farther than anybody else. It is certainly a 
marvel that these women are able to run such 
an institution as Kulpahar with the small amount 
of money appropriated from year to year by the 
Mission. They seem to multiply every dollar 
they receive, by their careful management and 
wise supervision. 



[114] 



KULPAHAR 



5 

The medical and dispensary work at Kul- 
pahar is under the direction of a woman medical 
missionary, Dr. Osee Dill. She comes from 
Mahoba once a week, but she or some other 
should be located there full time. Treatments 
are given to the women at the institution in the 
town about two miles away during the rest of 
the day. Dr. Dill treats all kinds of cases. She 
took special clinical work at Tulane University, 
New Orleans, for diseases of the eye. She treats 
many cases of trachoma and corneal ulcers. 
One morning as one of the women had her teeth 
pulled, a dozen other women who were waiting 
for treatment, crowded around to see the fun. 
The woman yelled as if she were being murdered. 

One day a woman walked a distance of 
five miles carrying her fifteen months' old 
baby on her hip to give it to the home. Her 
husband was dead, she was very poor and had 
been compelled to work in the fields and carry 
water for a living. She belonged to the water 
carriers' caste. The child was poorly fed, and 
in giving it over to Miss Clarke, the mother 
said, "You will get some roti — bread — to eat." 
She said she was sorry to leave the child, but 
that "God had spoiled her joy." She did not kiss 
her baby goodbye, but went off down the dusty 
road with a heavy heart, and perhaps will never 
come back to see her baby again. Another 
woman came bringing a girl. She had found 
this girl on the road and the girl had asked 

[115] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

the woman to show her the way. She was from 
a village twelve miles distant and had walked 
all the way. She didn't know her own age, but 
was perhaps ten years old. 

Nearly every day something of this kind 
occurs. One such case seems to the observer to 
be the composite tragedy of all paganism. 

Every now and then the comedy side shows 
up. For instance, some long-tongued woman in 
the Home takes a notion that she can run things 
better than the missionaries. She becomes 
unruly. Miss Clarke, in an off-hand way, said 
that once or twice they had been compelled to 
put a woman in jail. They locked her up in a 
little house off by herself for nearly a day, and 
after that they had no more trouble with her. 
They hated to do it but it seemed necessary to 
maintain order, decorum, and authority in the 
Home. 

6 

The Kulpahar Home is also serving the 
Mission in another most necessary way. It 
furnishes Christian wives for many of the 
Christian young men in most of our Mission 
Stations. These Christian young men would 
be unable to get Christian wives, were it not 
for the institution at Kulpahar. If they married 
non-Christian wives the influence of the home 
would be such that they might be lost to the 
church. The kind of training the girls get at 
Kulpahar prepares them to be home-makers 
[116] 



KULPAHAR 



and helpers for farmers. The girls who marry 
Indian farmers are much more efficient and 
therefore happier if they have had the splendid 
training of this home. Mr. Grainger reports that 
while he was in Mungeli, he arranged for the 
marriage of twenty-five men with girls from 
Kulpahar, and every one of the girls made good. 
It is necessary to establish Christian homes in 
order to make permanent the Christian program 
in India. 

The women of America who have been main- 
taining the Industrial Home at Kulpahar have 
been doing a great humanitarian service. They 
have brought light where there was darkness. 
They have changed sorrow into joy. They have 
helped to change idol worshipers into Christians. 
They have helped to erect and maintain a Home 
that has saved and redeemed thousands of 
women and girls and which has set a higher 
standard of life to a great multitude of other 
women who have caught something of the in- 
spiration and ideals of that wonderful institu- 
tion. 

Kulpahar, the place of many mountains; a 
place of beauty; a place of industry; a place of 
sanctity; a place of religion and redemption; a 
place where the flower of American civilization, 
woman, is lending its beauty and its fragrance 
to the down-trodden women of India, and caus- 
ing them to walk up the Delectable Mountains 
into the place of purity and of holiness. 



[117] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

DOES IT PAY? 
Conference With Two Evangelists at Kulpahar. 

The people are eager to listen and to learn. 
They buy the gospels and read them and then 
come back and ask what it all means. From 
this these evangelists think that the people are 
anxious to know more about Christianity. The 
people often say, "If you have any better book 
than this please sell it to us also." 

These evangelists go into thirteen villages 
regularly to preach and teach. They start early 
in the morning and reach the villages just after 
sunrise. They do their best work at this time 
of the day because the men have not yet gone to 
the fields to work. They talk to the people in 
their homes, they talk to the crowds in the village 
streets, they sing the gospel songs, read the New 
Testament, and get the people to understand 
what Christianity means. In som^ villages they 
separate and have two services at the same time. 

In their discussions with the people they 
have to explain who Jesus is, and whose Son he 
is, and why Christianity is better than other 
religions. One of the evangelists was formerly 
a Mohammedan, and the Mohammedans ask him 
many questions, and they usually end up by say- 
ing that the Mohammedan religion is the best 
of all. They say that a good many of the people 
believe in Christ but are afraid to make a public 
confession for fear of persecution. Many of the 
people to whom they go are ignprant. . They 

[118] 



KVLPAHAR 



cannot read nor write. And many of the villages 
where they preach have no public schools of any 
kind. The mission, of course, is unable to supply 
teachers for all of the villages. 

In the larger villages the government main- 
tains schools for boys but none for girls. They 
say there are only two schools for girls in the 
Kulpahar tahsil, a district with a population of 
about one hundred thousand. As they go from 
village to village, they do not meet much opposi- 
tion and are rarely ever persecuted. Many people 
hear them gladly but not all who hear are willing 
to take their stand openly for Christianity. 

However these evangelists think that Chris- 
tianity will sometime reign in India. Many of 
the Hindus often tell them they believe Chris- 
tianity will conquer all other religions. It is 
written in the Koran that some day there will 
be but one religion. And even many of the 
learned Mohammedans think that some day it 
will be the Christian religion. 

These evangelists say that in their little 
homes at night they pray for the Board and for 
all those connected with it. They also pray for 
the Christians in America and for the churches 
here. They also pray that the Kingdom of Christ 
will come throughout all the land of India. 

SHYAN BHABINI 
One of the real saints among our workers 
is Shyan Bhabini, matron of the Home at Kulpa- 
har. I have seen something of the radiance 

[119] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

in her face and her joy at the work she was 
doing, and requested that she come to the mis- 
sion bungalow for an interview. On Saturday 
afternoon, sitting on the veranda, she told me a 
wonderful story of devotion and perseverance, 
such as I have rarely ever heard before. This is 
her story: 

Her parents were Hindus and all of her re- 
latives were, and still are the strictest of the 
Hindus. While her parents were strict Hindus, 
they sent her to the mission school to learn 
to knit and sew, for they were of a good family 
and wanted her to have the best in life. They 
were of the Bengali tribe. They told her when 
she went to this mission school, that she must 
not learn the new religion, that she must forget 
everything she was told about Christ. 

Her missionary teacher was very kind and 
she learned to love her. She requested to be 
taught the stories that the other girls were learn- 
ing, and little by little she learned about Christ 
and finally secured a New Testament of her own. 
At the age of eleven or twelve she decided she 
wanted to become a Christian and expressed her 
desire to her parents. They objected, saying she 
was under age and that she ought not to think 
of such a thing. 

Upon confiding this to the missionaries she 
was told that she could believe in Christ in her 
own home even if her parents did not allow her 
to publicly accept Him. Finally her mother took 
her away to a place where there were no mis- 

[120] 



KULPAHAR 



sionaries. This brought a great sorrow to 
her heart but she still believed in Jesus. Her 
mother got her half married and told her she 
would be better off when arrangements were 
completed for her wedding. But her brother 
found out that the man was no good and drove 
him away. Finally her mother died and she 
went to live with her brother. Her brother had 
been in the University and was well educated. 
He married a rich man's daughter, who later 
died and Bhabini took the baby girl and brought 
her up as if she were her own daughter. 

Prom time to time she talked to her brother 
about Christianity. He was afraid she would 
become a Christian and gave her anti-Christian 
books to read. She said, "One volume was a 
horrid book by Thomas Paine. How I hated that 
book." 

After seven years her brother was married 
again. Bhabini kept on praying that the oppor- 
tunity might come for her to become a Chris- 
tian and do Christian work. The brother's wife 
at one time got very sick. Ten doctors were 
called in for consultation and they all said that 
she would die. Bhabini loved her and prayed 
earnestly for her recovery. She said, "I prayed 
for her and she lived, and is living now. I 
learned by praying that Christ is true. He is the 
only incarnation of God. I hold him tight. And 
I believe in Him with all my heart, and I told 
my brother so." 



[121] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

"My brother then did not interfere with me. 
He said, 'You can believe in Christ and worship 
Him but don't go outside and become a Chris- 
tian for if you do you will bring disgrace upon 
me and your dead father and mother.' 

"As the years passed we went to live in a 
community where there were missionaries. My 
brother allowed the missionaries to come into 
the home to teach his wife and young daughter. 
I had to help care for the family which kept me 
in the home and prevented me from publicly 
becoming a Christian. Year after year I kept 
thinking I would get all the work done so that 
I could be free to live my own life. I was the 
house keeper in the home and looked after the 
accounts. 

"At last when I was thirty-four years old, 
when it seemed that I never would get all the 
work done, I decided to run away with a mis- 
sionary and become a Christian. Whenever 
the missionary came to the home, my brother's 
wife watched me so I never could get to talk 
privately. I finally, by strategy, got alone with 
the missionary and told her that I wanted to 
run away. I fixed up all of my accounts and left 
a copy for my brother. I left a letter telling 
them how the accounts were kept and then tell- 
ing my brother that I could no longer resist 
going out into the world and publicly becoming 
a Christian and living my life for Him. 

"One night I slipped out and ran away. I 
met the missionary, and she took me to Deoghar 

[122] 



KULPAHAR 



where I was baptized October 16, 1902. Through 
these long years I had read and studied so that I 
was useful at once to the mission. I did zenana 
work for a while, was a teacher in one of the 
schools, and later a teacher and worker in an 
orphanage. 

"Finally I came to Kulpahar where I did 
zenana work and school work and tried to teach 
the women in the bazaars the story of Christ. 
Now I am the matron of the Home here. I guess 
I am like a mother to the girls, for they all call 
me 'ma.' I live with them and love them. They 
tell their troubles to me and I advise them and 
help them the best I can. Many of the women 
who come here have been turned out of their 
homes. They have been treated like slaves. 
They are very thankful for this home." 

I asked Bhabini if she could see any change 
come over the women after they come into this 
Home. "Ah, sir," said she, "the wonderful thing 
Jesus does here is to help change the middle- 
aged women. It is not so wonderful to see how 
Jesus influences the children, but it is marvelous 
to see the change come over the middle-aged 
women whose forefathers for generations have 
been Hindus. Their faith is changed, their char- 
acter is changed, their whole lives are changed. 
They learn to read and write. They become new 
creatures in Christ Jesus. 

"India is becoming Christian. The Hindus 
are imitating the Christians. All of the new 
things that are coming in, are they not the fruits 

[123] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

of the Christian religion? India is becoming 
Christian. I have prayed for it. I believe it, I 
know it, and some day India will be Christ's." 

After hearing this wonderful story I asked 
Bhabini to let me take her picture. She refused, 
saying she had promised her brother that she 
would never allow the Christians to take her 
photograph. She said she had kept that promise 
to her Hindu brother through all the years. When 
I suggested that I might take her photograph 
when she was not looking, she gave me such a 
look that made me understand that should I do 
so I would be helping her to break the promise 
she had made to her brother. But I left her with 
the conviction that the above picture of her 
heart and soul is of more worth to the Kingdom 
than would have been the photograph of her 
outward appearance. 



[124] 



CHAPTER VII 



DAMOH 



CHAPTER VII 
DAMOH 

CHRISTMAS SUNDAY AT DAMOH 



Christmas Sunday at Damon is past but 
the memory of it will linger for a long time. It 
was so like and so unlike anything I had ever 
seen before that I feel many will be interested in 
it. 

Before 7: 30 I was walking across some fields 
with Mrs. Ray Rice to a village two miles away 
where she has conducted a Sunday-school for the 
last three years. As we entered the edge of the 
village we met one of the boys going into the 
fields, and Mrs. Rice asked him if he were not 
coming to Sunday-school. He had to work and 
could not come. As we went through the town 
she called to a boy here and a girl there, and told 
them to hustle up, it was time to begin. 

Imagine my surprise when we got to the 
place of the school to find it an open place by the 
side of a native house under a tree. The little 
old house was made of mud and plastered on the 
outside, and whitewashed, so it made a fairly 
respectable appearance. 

[127] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

One boy had a paper with a song written on 
it, and I asked him if he could read. He, a 
second boy, and a man, were the only ones in 
the entire village that could read or write. The 
session was a very short one, as the trip was to 
be made into Damoh where all the schools were 
congregating at the church for the big Christmas 
program. 

As we started down the narrow street, a 
crowd of boys and girls followed us. One little 
girl about ten, came running to join the crowd, 
carrying her clothes in her arms. She dressed 
on the way and no one seemed to pay any atten- 
tion to her. The count showed thirty-eight from 
this school on their way to Damoh. When we 
arrived at the church a strange sight met my 
eyes. Here came Sunday-schools down every 
street. Seven outside schools came in. They 
entered the church in order, and by schools, and 
were seated on the floor. 

All those boys and girls had on jewelry, 
even though they had but the scantiest clothing. 
One little girl had five bracelets on one arm, a 
gold head star with gold chains running down 
to her ears, three anklets, four toe rings, and 
two gold ear-rings. She said she did not put on 
much as she was coming out in a big crowd. 

2 

When the Superintendent called for order, 
a quiet hush came over the great crowd. The 
first song was in Hindi, "Silent Night," sung by 

[128] 



DAMOH 



one of the schools. They stood as they sang. 
Small girls had their baby sisters on their hips. 
These Indian babies are like little monkeys. They 
clamp their little legs around the hip and body 
of an older brother or sister, and hang on. 
Practically all of these children were barefooted. 
December here is about like October at home. 

Another school sang a song, "Our Hearts 
Are Inclined Towards Jesus." Another, "Jesus 
Christ Saves Our Souls." Then the Taparya 
school took the house down. It is the "hut" 
Sunday-school. The people are of the poorest, 
and they live in grass huts. They are of the 
coolie class and are looked down upon by their 
fellows. There were twenty-two of them. One 
boy had on a little dirty short shirt, and an ank- 
let. A baby on its sister's hip had on three 
bracelets only, but it was half-way tucked under 
its sister's sari. None of them had had their 
hair combed and their mothers had forgotten to 
wash their faces also. But that crowd t)f "hut" 
children stood up and sang in good time and 
clear voices "Jesus Christ Healed All the Sick." 

There was only one girls' Sunday-school in 
the whole crowd. They rose with their brightly 
colored saris draped up over their heads and 
sang "As the Wise Men Followed the Star." A 
school that was late came in at this juncture, all 
the space was taken, so they sat down in the 
center aisle. 

Then three boys sang a prayer song written 
by a Hindu. This man comes to Sunday-school, 

[129] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

knows much about Christianity, is a great ad- 
mirer of Christ, and says he will soon make the 
confession. The prayer is as follows: 

"Oh God, I pray thee to offer thy soul to me 
as thy machinery is clean and neat, I pray, O 
Lord, to make mine also. I am all empty handed, 
there is nothing whatsoever in me, hence be- 
stowing thy good soul on me, kindly enable me 
to do thy good services. At every time and in 
every deed I commit some mistakes, so kindly 
forgive our mistakes and faults. The Devil tries 
its best to betray us, to bring us into the wrong 
path, hence we pray, O Lord, to keep us separate 
from it (Devil.) Is it possible for us to get thy 
soul as some of our prophets who have gone be- 
fore us have done, we hope thou shalt decide 
this very soon. We ask all this in thy name. 
Amen." 

Seven boys recited the story of the birth of 
Christ from the Scriptures. One chap gave that 
part where it tells of the shepherds in the fields, 
"and the glory of the Lord shone round about 
them and they were sore afraid." But he ended 
by saying in a loud, clear voice, "God Save the 
King." The boys closed this part by singing a 
song, "Don't Ask us From Whence Jesus Came, 
He was From the Beginning." 

A low caste school then sang "King Jesus 
Christ Came." These poor people are the lowest 
of the low. They are a depressed and an op- 
pressed class. The government makes no pro- 
vision whatever for their education. They did 

[130] 



DAMOH 



not end their song by saying "God Save the 
King." 

To say that these children were "packed in 
like sardines" is putting it literally and not 
figuratively. When the count was made it 
showed six hundred and forty-one in that church. 
There are a lot of the curious who were looking 
through the window, but they were not included 
in the count. 

And what a motley array these six hundred 
and forty-one were! No less than twenty differ- 
ent castes were represented. There were the 
following: 

Baniya caste — the merchants' caste. 
Koris caste — the weavers' caste. 
Darzi caste — the tailors. 
Barhai caste — the carpenters. 
Brahmans — the Pharisees of India. 
Takurs — the farmers. 
Lodhi caste — other farmers. 
Kumar — pottery makers. 
Kacchi — gardeners. 
Ahir caste — cattle herders. 
Sonars — gold workers. 
Chamars — leather workers. 
Basors — basket makers. 

There were several others, but this will give 
some idea. And each caste has its rules and 
regulations. There is perhaps not another place 
in all India where so many castes could sit down 

[131] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

together, except in the church of Jesus Christ. 
Some members of these castes would not help 
others if it were a case of life and death. All 
India is separated with this miserable caste sys- 
tem, which is retarding every progressive move 
that is being made for the good of the country. 

When the program was over the treats were 
given out at the hospital nearly a block away. 
Each one got a half-pound package of dates. I 
stood in line and watched the faces of the kiddies 
as they discovered that they had something good 
to eat as a present. None of that crowd had had 
any breakfast before coming to Sunday-school. 
Hence the growing boys and girls out here al- 
ways carry a full grown appetite with them. 
Most of the people in this section have only two 
meals a day. 

After the Sunday-school was dismissed, the 
communion service was held. The native pastor 
had charge, and four of the native deacons served 
the audience. It was done as quietly and rever- 
ently, and in as good order as in any American 
church. The individual cups were used, and they 
all partook at the same time, the pastor leading. 

3 

In the afternoon at 4:30 at the Boys' school 
were held the two Christian Endeavor services. 
The Junior Society was held in the yard, as the 
boys prefer sitting in the sun to keep warm. 
There were one hundred and seventy-one boys 
in the Junior Society. They were all barefooted. 

[132] 



DAMOH 



The leader read the Christmas lesson from Luke, 
and a little fellow twelve years old led the music. 
He did a good job of it, too. Most all of the 
other boys sang from memory. When the time 
came for sentence prayers, there were two boys 
on their feet nearly all the time taking part. 

The Senior Society had fifty boys present. 
Nearly all had songbooks. Their ages were from 
thirteen to eighteen. I was asked to make a little 
talk to them, and I told them the Christian En- 
deavorers in America sent their salaams to those 
of India. Then one of the boys got up and moved 
that they send their salaams to the Christian 
Endeavor Societies in America for the help they 
had given to the Damoh Orphanage. They sent 
"bahut salaams," which means "big salaams." 
The boy who made this motion is one of the best 
in the school. In the famine days years ago, his 
mother walked here from Harda, a distance of 
about three hundred miles, and carried him on 
her head and hip. It took her three weeks to 
make the trip. The boy was saved, and is now 
a reliable Christian and one of the best in the 
carpenter shop. Nearly every boy here has an 
interesting history. 

It was a busy day, Christmas Sunday, De- 
cember 21, 1919. But my faith was strengthened 
as to the value of missionary work as never be- 
fore. 



[133] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

SCENARIO FOR A MOVING PICTURE, 

ENTITLED 

"ALL IN THE DAY'S WORK AT THE 

DAMOH BOYS' SCHOOL" 



Bugle — rising bell 5:45 A. M. Boys swarm 
out of their dormitories buzzing like bumblebees. 
Washing of faces. Brushing of teeth. Blankets 
folded. Rooms cleaned. Ready for inspection 
by 6:30. 



Morning prayers. One hundred and sixty- 
eight boys present. "Blessed Assurance." 1 
Timothy. Prayer. Setting up exercises by all 
boys, led by Ray Rice. 

3 

7:00 o'clock. Time for work. Ninety boys 
in English course, study an hour and a quarter. 
Apprentice boys begin work in shop. Other boys 
march out to the farm. Tailor shop begins work. 
Twelve to fifteen tailors make and repair cloth- 
ing for the boys. 



9:45. Breakfast. Three cooks prepare the 
meal. Two hundred and twenty boys seated in 
long rows on the ground. Rice passed around 
in big baskets. Boys eat like hungry wolves. 

[134] 



DAMOH 



New Sahib questions Alfred the house father 
and finds the monthly accounts for food. Over 
a ton of rice; one-half ton of wheat; nine bushels 
of dal; one hundred pounds of salt; one half 
bushel of red peppers; peck of garlic; peck of 
onions; coriander in the bulk for seasoning; 
forty- four pounds of sugar; eighteen pounds of 
sago; sixty pounds of sweet oil instead of lard. 
All this cooked in big brass kettles over four fire 
places. Wood for cooking for the year is rupees 
350. Breakfast over. Every boy washes his own 
plate. 

5 
10:30 to 4:30. Everybody goes to school. 
Five primary grades; four grades of middle 
school, government standard. Ten teachers. 
Several classes seated on the grass in the sun. 
Head master wears a Prince Albert coat buttoned 
in the middle from the top to bottom. Three 
water carriers, busy all day filling up the big 
tanks for the boys. Inspection of classes by Mr. 
Rice, head master, and new Sahib. Teachers 
proud of the record of their classes. Class drill 
period for exercise and recreation. Drill pre- 
scribed by government. 



Athletics and play. Basket ball, base ball, 
foot ball, races, broad jump, high jump, hockey 
game. New Sahib makes a home run but is 
penalized for "sticks," — lifting hockey club above 
his shoulders. 

[135] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 



Evening eats. Breakfast menu repeated 
with variations. Boys all ask for a second plate 
of curry and rice. Happy and cheerful and more 
highly conversational in devouring the second 
course than the first. Inspection by the house 
father to see that the cooking vessels are kept 
clean, and sanitary conditions observed. Kitchen, 
building and grounds kept in as good order as a 
military camp. Dish washing. Morning program 
repeated. Taps. Boys "hit the hay" each wrap- 
ped in his own two blankets and one rug which 
are checked against him. "The sawing of wood" 
soon begins. Curtain. 

8 

The leading spirit and generalissimo be- 
hind the scenes is Ray E. Rice. He was a lover 
and leader of boys before he went to India. He 
has two fine boys of his own. He loves those 
Indian boys and is doing everything possible to 
develop them in every way. His work is begin- 
ning to reach out beyond the borders of Damon. 
He has been appointed by the president of the 
School Boys' League of Honor as Deputy League 
Commissioner. This School Boys' League of 
Honor is a stepping stone in India to the Boy 
Scout Movement. It is organized and supported 
by the educational department of the govern- 
ment. Mr. Rice's work, as far as his time will 
permit, is to establish League troops in different 
schools. 

[136] 



DAMOH 



There are one hundred and six schools in 
the district. Mr. Rice's appointment being 
official, he can go into these schools and call 
meetings of the teachers and the boys and 
organize them. These organizations are a new 
thing under the sun in the Damoh district, but 
the teachers and the boys have co-operated 
splendidly. These Leagues have their rules, 
their regular meetings, hold contests, etc. Under 
Mr. Rice's supervision, three annual track and 
field meets have been held. The Damoh school 
has carried off the honors in two of these meets. 
It is not an unusual thing to see Mr. Rice jump 
on his bicycle, ride fifteen to twenty miles, 
organize a new League of Honor, and come rid- 
ing back at night with a black buck tied on the 
horns of his bicycle. 

Thus a new light is coming into the lives of 
the boys of the Damoh district. A new idea of 
co-operation and team work is being implanted 
in their early years, and this is being done by 
a man who loves and believes in boys, who has 
the boy spirit himself, who will undoubtedly be 
a boy at eighty, and who is willing to spend his 
years from now until then, in the training and 
the development of his boy friends in India. 

A GOSPEL FARM 

1 

Is the running of a farm spiritual or secular? 

Must the missionary "preach the gospel" and do 

nothing else in carrying out all of the implica- 

[137] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

tions of the Great Commission? Was Paul still 
the apostle when he was a tent maker? Some 
one has coined the phrase "the gospel of dirt." 
Most certainly the Damon farm is a gospel farm, 
and the "pure" gospel at that. 

There are four hundred acres in this farm. 
Seventy acres are under cultivation. The rest 
is for hay and grazing land and "scrub jungle." 
C. E. Benlehr is the farmer-missionary in charge. 
There are two talaus — artificial lakes for irriga- 
tion purposes. 

Mr. Benlehr is seeing to it that not only two 
blades of grass grow where only one grew before, 
but that three bushels of wheat grow where only 
one grew before, and that fine orange trees grow 
where none grew before. In other words he is 
making of that farm an example of what the 
people may do on their own little farms if they 
will only try. And for the asking they may have 
all the help and advice and experience at Mr. 
Benlehr's command. 

The main crops on the farm are rice, wheat, 
peanuts, sweet oil seed, and hay. In the orchard 
are grown oranges, limes, papaiyas, pears, 
plums, guavas, mulberries and mangoes. There 
are sixty fine orange trees, all budded. The 
orchard is a commercial asset to the farm. The 
fruit is sold to the fruit dealers and the profits 
assist in the development of the farm. 

The garden produces tomatoes, cabbage, 
cauliflower, egg plant, turnips, onions, carrots, 
radishes, peas, beans, and lettuce. 

[138] 




a 
o 

a 



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G 
O 
en 

« 



DAMOH 



The Damoh farm has government recogni- 
tion as a seed farm for the district, and a recog- 
nition certificate has been granted. The seed 
has the same status as the seed grown on the 
government seed farms. That means that it 
has been developed until it is pure seed. Most 
of the grain, therefore, is sold as seed grain 
which brings a higher price. But the people 
thus get better seed and are able to produce 
more in their own fields. 

The rice fields are well kept and irrigated 
from one of the lakes. When the crop was 
ready for harvest the government sent a man to 
measure up and test the fields officially for the 
yield per acre. It was found that the Damoh 
rice yielded three times the average for the dis- 
trict. This rice has been developed and selected 
for ten years, until it is of first class quality. 
People often come to the government officials 
and want to buy the kind of seed rice which is 
raised on the farm. 

On account of this fine record in the raising 
of rice and wheat and other kinds of grain, the 
government has given the Damoh farm a medal 
as a token of recognition of one which has 
helped to improve the agriculture of the dis- 
trict. The government puts out but very little 
literature about better farming because most of 
the people cannot read. It is necessary for the 
people really to see, to understand the possibili- 
ties of better farming. 



[139] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

There is a fine herd of cattle on the farm. 
These cattle are of a better breed than the 
average Indian cattle. From this herd milk 
is furnished for the boys at the boarding school 
which is located upon the farm. Good, strong 
work oxen are also secured from this herd. After 
one has seen the tens of thousands of little scrub 
Indian cattle, he can realize what a wise thing 
it is for the manager of the Damoh farm to 
demonstrate the possibilities of better breeding. 



There is another fine thing about this gospel 
farm. It is an experiment farm for the boys in 
the boarding school. Every morning a large 
number of the boys march out to the farm, 
two by two, for their two hours' daily work. They 
learn how to plow deeper and better than their 
fathers plowed. They help hoe the gardens, they 
hoe and dig the peanuts, they fix the fences, they 
learn the proper system of irrigation, they are 
taught how to select the best seeds. They are 
taught how to prune and care for the orchards. 
In short they are taught how to become success- 
ful farmers, and gardeners, and fruit growers. 

In addition to the work of the boys, Mr. 
Benlehr now has the policy of share farming. 
That is, about thirty farmers are allowed to rent 
certain portions of land on the shares. Some of 
these are Christians and some non-Christians. 
These farmers are assisted and advised in the 
cultivation of their crops so that they become ac- 

[140] 



DAMOH 



quainted with the best methods of farming. 
More than one farmer has not only learned a 
better method of farming, but also a better re- 
ligion. Some of the men sign up for the land by 
putting their thumb prints on the contract. In 
addition to these farmers many of the village 
people are employed from time to time in help- 
ing to repair the lake, build the ridges for the 
rice fields, clear the jungle land, etc. Thus a 
large number of people, in one way and another, 
come in contact every year with the farm and 
its splendid influence. 

3 

Besides the work on the farm, there is also 
a work shop, including both blacksmithing and 
carpentering. This gives practical help and a 
definite training for life to many of the boys at 
the school. There are two Indian teachers, both 
reared and trained at the orphanage, for the 
work in the shop. Ten boys are taking full time 
instruction in their apprenticeship, and twenty- 
six other boys are taking part time instruction 
along with their regular school work. The boys 
who finish these courses are well trained and 
can get good jobs and good pay anywhere they 
go. 

In this workshop they make chairs, tables, 
doors, windows, building timber, benches, desks, 
book shelves, furniture. I saw furniture out 
of the Damoh shops in every one of our thirteen 
stations. Orders come now from many parts of 

[141] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

India. Government officials and rich Indian 
gentlemen have ordered furniture from as far 
away as Calcutta. After the boys have received 
their training they of course share in the profits 
of the shop. 

Three of the boys from the Damoh farm 
and shops were in Palestine during the war. 
They helped to build the railway from the Suez 
Canal to Jerusalem. Several of them also 
served in Mesopotamia. They told wonderful 
tales of the war and Jerusalem, about the Tigris 
and Euphrates and the great out-side world, 
when they returned after their great adventure. 
They were looked upon with more wonder and 
awe than was Columbus after he had discovered 
America. 

No wonder Mr. Benlehr believes in the re- 
ligion of the hammer and the plow. No wonder 
he takes delight in preaching the gospel of work, 
which is surely the gospel of Christ. No wonder 
he is jealous for the good name and influence of 
the gospel farm. He is also jealous for the crops. 
When the fruit is ripening, guards are placed in 
the orchard at night to frighten away the flying 
foxes, and if a wild boar dares to put his nose 
in the peanut patch on one night, Mr. Benlehr 
will lay for him the next night and put a bullet 
through his heart. 

4 

The chief output of the farm of course is 
boys and men. Men who can go out into life 
. [142] 



DAMOH 



upon their own resources and make it go; men 
who have learned the principles of farming, but 
who have also learned the principles of Chris- 
tian living. More than one Christian home, in 
our different Mission stations, has been estab- 
lished by the men who have received their train- 
ing at Damoh. Homes that are self-supporting; 
homes from which come some of the officers of 
our Indian churches; homes that are regular 
contributors of life and money to the support of 
these churches; homes that are the backbone 
and the mainstay of the whole Christian pro- 
gram of India. Surely a farm with such an out- 
put may properly be called a gospel farm. 

A DAY WITH THE HUSTLING DR. MARY 



That portion of the human race, the con- 
ceited males, who are carrying around the idea 
that they only are able to do the big jobs in the 
world's work, need only to take a trip to the 
mission fields to have that conceit taken out of 
them. Just to follow Dr. Mary McGavran around 
for one day and see and try to comprehend all 
the work that she is doing was a full day's work 
for me. 

At 7:30 in the morning she was having 
morning prayers at her hospital with the three 
nurses and the watchman. The meeting was 
held in the drug room by the oil stove. They 
read in turn from the Book of Matthew for the 

[143] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

Scripture lesson. They had just finished Mark, 
Luke and Galatians. The head nurse led in the 
morning prayer. 

For a half hour immediately following 
prayers the Doctor teaches a course in mid- 
wifery. A simple book of fourteen chapters is 
being used and the two nurses have just com- 
pleted the course and are ready for their ex- 
aminations. These nurses will take the govern- 
ment examinations given by the civil surgeon. 
Dr. McGavran says that the nurses learn this 
course much easier after they have had two or 
three babies of their own. 

The Doctor also finds time to give a course 
in first aid to the government school teachers. 
In this way she is able to multiply her work 
through the instrumentality and influence of 
these teachers. 

The records of the hospital were carefully 
kept in a large book so that it was easy to dis- 
cover the amount of work being done and the 
treatments given from month to month. The 
records showed the following number of treat- 
ments for the months prior to my visit: 

January 641 June 775 

February 1021 July 1737 

March 1115 August 2618 

April 2310 September ....2797 

May 1553 October 2530 

October 1 to October 15 showed an average 
of one hundred and thirty treatments per day. 
[144] 




c 

1> 

E 

o 



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C 

c 

03 
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DAMOH 



About four-fifths of the people who come are 
women and children. 

The Doctor has an eye to business. All the 
patients who are able are required to pay a fee. 
That helps to maintain the expenses of the 
hospital and the patients who pay listen to the 
gospel teaching better. She buys small bottles 
in large quantities, in which they may carry their 
medicines away, and sells them to the patients 
for two or three pice each. She has a fine well- 
stocked drug room, but she makes no prescrip- 
tions to diminish the stock unless it is necessary. 



A moving picture of the crowd that files 
into this hospital dispensary, from day to day, 
would be worth going miles to see. An active 
imagination might be able to conjure up a part 
of the scene. When the door was open ready 
for business there was a considerable crowd in 
the yard, but they were compelled to come in in 
an orderly way. 

Man with sore eyes; boy with a bottle for 
medicine; little girl with sore eyes; Moham- 
medan boy wants medicine for his sick mother, 
and describes the mother's sickness. Tall man, 
with whiskers, white turban, his wife has chills, 
he shook himself to show the doctor how she 
chilled; said she had fire in the stomach. Man 
whose wife had presented him with a baby boy 
ten years ago. Could the Miss Sahib give him 

[145] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

some medicine so his wife could have another 
child and how much would she charge? 

Teacher of history and geography in govern- 
ment middle school. I asked him: "Since you 
work for the government, why don't you go to the 
government dispensary?" "Sahib, it's no use. 
Here we get good care. The medicines are use- 
ful. There they give a bottle full of medicine 
and it is nearly all water. Here we get a little 
medicine but it has big healing quality. The 
Hindu Doctor don't ask us much. Miss Sahib 
asks what is going on at our homes and she 
knows our needs." 

Boy about seventeen, after more medicine 
for his little brother. It has been necessary to 
give him bitter medicine. The Doctor asked if 
the boy had kept it down. He said, "Yes, he 
had told his brother that Miss Sahib would cut 
off his ears if he threw it up!" 

Women with 100 rupees worth of jewely 
had traveled fifteen miles in an oxcart, accom- 
panied by four male relatives and a son; four- 
teen bracelets on her arms. 

Blind girl — could not the Doctor do some- 
thing to make her see? Woman with a baby on 
her hip. The mother had on a silver belt cost- 
ing forty-five rupees. Dog fight in the yard, 
participated in by five stray Indian dogs. 

A purdah tonga drives up, enclosing two 
purdah women, curtains down on all four sides. 
Women, with thick veils over their faces enter 
purdah rooms at the hospital. Doctor enters 

[146] 



DAMOH 



room to give treatment; I stay out, but get photo- 
graph as they are ready to leave. 

Old man — has had hiccoughs for ten days. 
Doctor plans to scare it out of him. Man from a 
village accompanied by his three wives. Wives 
very shy. Oxcart drives up from a village fif- 
teen miles away. Three or four other oxcarts 
from villages near and far. Another woman 
accompanied by men, needs operation. Men re- 
fuse to have operation performed. Lead woman 
away, who will probably die within a month. 
Nurse comes in from drug room to inquire about 
certain medicine. Doctor gives order quickly. 
Boy with something wrong with his ear. Ex- 
amination out in the sun where there is plenty 
of light. Two women patients grinding wheat 
between two stones in one of the wards, staying 
for several weeks, do their own cooking. Pro- 
cession finished, prescriptions all written. Teach- 
ing service out in the yard. 

Talk on the prodigal son by the head nurse, 
using large picture to illustrate. Story adapted 
to India. Malgazar had two sons. Prodigal 
went away because his father would have been 
ashamed to have him act that way in his house. 
Story of feeding the swine. Mohammedan 
woman in the audience turned up her nose. 
Didn't tell of killing the fatted calf. Said they 
made a big feast. Boy returned, father bade 
him salaam. Everybody was happy. Songs by 
the nurses and some of the audience. Prescrip- 
tions filled and people scatter to their little 

[147] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

homes. Doctor gets on her horse and rides home 
to breakfast at 11: 30 A. M. 



Totals for the morning as follows: 

Christians 27 

Mohammedans 23 

Hindus 35 

Total 85 

Women and children 64 

New cases 16 

Number of villages represented 10 

Farthest distance traveled by patients — fifty 
miles from two directions, both ways one hun- 
dred miles. 

In addition to the work at the hospital the 
Doctor looks after the health of the more than 
two hundred boys at the boarding school and 
orphanage. She has a compounder under her 
instruction. Thereis also a trained compounder 
who looks after the drug room at the boarding 
school and carries out the Doctor's instruction 
in the care of the boys. Besides this regular 
trips are made on horse back, or bicycle, or ox- 
cart, to some outside villages. On these trips 
she is accompanied by a nurse and a Bible 
woman. In this way thousands of people are 
reached every year who would not travel to 
Damoh. 

[148] 



DAMOH 



A great and effectual door is being opened 
by the work and influence of such women as 
Doctor Mary McGavran. She loves the Stars 
and Stripes but she works under the Union Jack 
which floats over India. But the flag she loves 
the best is the Christian Conquest flag, which 
she thinks is sometime to have the supremacy, 
not only over the peoples of India, but over the 
peoples of the entire world. 

THE PIONEERESS OF DAMOH 

At the present time Miss Josepha Franklin's 
work is of a three-fold character. She has charge 
of the women's evangelistic work in and around 
Damoh, the management of the girls' school, and 
the oversight of the work among Christian 
women. 

1 

In the woman's evangelistic work Miss 
Franklin was assisted by five Bible women. Four 
of these were orphan girls rescued during the 
great famine. One was rescued by Miss Franklin 
herself and sent to Deoghar to be educated. Miss 
Franklin and these Bible women visit eighty- 
three different homes each week. These are in 
six mahallahs, or caste sections of the town. 
Work is also started in fourteen villages around 
Damoh. Of the eighty-three homes regularly 
visited, nine are strictly purdah. These purdah 
women never see any men but their own hus- 
bands and relatives and are never permitted to 

[1491 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

go out except when thickly veiled and behind 
curtains. In these eighty-three homes two hun- 
dred and thirty-two girls and women are taught 
the Bible and Christian hymns weekly, 

Most of the women, to begin with, are illit- 
erate, but they are taught to read through the 
second reader. After that they are given Luke's 
Gospel as their reading book. Miss Franklin is 
having a year's course of lessons from the Book 
of Luke taught in these homes. £)nce a week 
she meets with her Bible women and goes over 
the courses with them so that the lessons are 
thoroughly taught. Open air meetings are also 
held in the mahallahs, where men as well as 
women congregate to hear the Bible stories. 
Often after hearing one of these Bible stories 
the people will discuss it and make the applica- 
tion themselves. Once after hearing the story 
of the ten talents one man said, "The third agent 
was afraid to invest his master's money in busi- 
ness for fear he would fail and be blamed for 
poor business methods." An old woman told 
her son that he was just like the man who buried 
his talent, "because," said she, "you are too 
cowardly to risk anything and too lazy to work." 

The work in the villages is like that in the 
town, both house to house and open air teaching. 
On bazaar days — market days — in certain towns 
they co-operate with Dr. McGavran in dispens- 
ing medicines and gospel teaching. The people 
always come for medicine when the doctor is 
there, but when the doctor cannot come and the 

[150] 



DAMOH 



people know that Miss Franklin and her women 
are present, they ask that they be "taught wis- 
dom." They sing hymns, teach the people to 
sing, teach the Bible stories, and in this way 
large groups of people from near and far hear 
the word of God. 



The girls' school was opened in 1900 by Miss 
Franklin for non-Christian girls. At the pres- 
ent time, however, both Christian girls and non- 
Christian girls are in attendance. The school is 
now held in the church, but plans are under way 
for erecting a school building on the lot adjoin- 
ing the church. There are sixty high caste girls 
enrolled in the school. The oldest of the girls 
are from ten to twelve, and many of them are 
either married or arrangements already made 
for their marriage. The teachers are all Chris- 
tians, having also been rescued in the early 
famine days. About twenty of the girls are 
Christians or daughters of Christians. 

The Hindu girls are daughters of merchants, 
land owners, and government officials. Many of 
them wear fine jewelry and their personal serv- 
ants escort them to school, stay during school 
hours, and then escort them home again. The 
school is run according to government standards 
and receives a small grant from the govern- 
ment. However, the Bible is taught every day. 
The girls from the second class up read the Bible 
regularly. A weekly conference of the teachers 

[161] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

is held and the best methods of teaching are dis- 
cussed and used. The school has also a first aid 
and hygiene class taught by Doctor McGavran. 

3 

Someone has said that permanent progress 
in any nation or any race can be measured by 
the development of their women. Every mission 
fully understands this point. Therefore, the 
plans everywhere are for the constant instruc- 
tion and direction of the women after they be- 
come Christians. Miss Franklin has a pre- 
scribed course of study for the women co- 
workers, teachers, Bible women, nurses, etc. 
These are in five different classes, with special 
subjects to stimulate and enlarge the vision of 
these workers. 

There are about fifty Christian families in 
Damoh and the women of these families are 
organized into a Christian Woman's Society. 
The main work of this Society is to train the 
Christian women for all kinds of work. They 
are given instruction about the care of their 
children, sanitation in the home, how to interest 
their neighbors in Christianity, and how to in- 
struct and hold their children for the church. 
They have a Sunday-school committee, an 
educational committee, and a social and sick 
committee. They make regular reports about 
the progress of the work which they are doing. 

Miss Franklin has been twenty-two years 
in Damoh and a total of twenty-seven years in 

[152] 



DAMOH 



India. She has taught for four years in the 
Bible College at Jubbulpore. She has passed 
through the two great famines of 1896 and 1900. 
She helped start the work in Damoh before the 
railway was there. No mission work had ever 
been done there before. She has seen from 
the beginning the growth of the orphanage 
and boarding school, the development of the 
farm, the erection and growth of the hospital 
work, the ever-widening influence of the evan- 
gelistic and the school work, and yet she is of 
the firm conviction that if all the work is to be- 
come permanent and lasting, the women and 
girls must keep pace with the boys and men. To 
the accomplishment of this task she has com- 
mitted her life. And the testimony of the suc- 
cess of her work is visible on every hand. 



U53] 



CHAPTER VIII 



HATTA 



CHAPTER VIII 

HATTA 

A BUNGALOW AND AN OPPORTUNITY 

Hatta, twenty-four miles north of Damon, 
off the railroad, consists of not much more than 
a bungalow and an opportunity. Our mission 
policy there has been of the skip-stop variety. 
We have been in and out of Hatta a half dozen 
different times. Whenever there was lack of 
missionaries at other stations the man was pulled 
out of Hatta and sent elsewhere. When rein- 
forcements came Hatta would be temporarily 
reopened. This policy has been going on for 
sixteen years, and nobody in particular is to 
blame, because there were not sufficient workers 
to man all the stations. 

The result at Hatta can be easily foretold. 
There is a bungalow at Hatta as good as any we 
have in India; well located, in a fine yard of 
three or four acres. There is a school house in 
Hatta, but no school. There is a small house 
owned by the mission, across the road from the 
school house and renting for eight annas a 
month. There is no organized church at Hatta. 
There is no Sunday-school. Practically the only 

[157] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

Christians are the employed workers, the evan- 
gelists and their families, and the cook's family. 
When the missionary is removed, all the Chris- 
tians go with him. 

David Rioch was located at Hatta at the 
time of my visit. He had four evangelists as his 
assistants and they were preaching regularly 
in Hatta and many of the villages round about. 
On their evangelistic tours they go into certain 
centers and remain about two weeks and preach 
to all the nearby villages. Then they move 
camp and repeat the process, thus covering a 
wide area with the evangelistic message. But 
since my visit Mr. Rioch has been transferred 
to Mungeli. The bungalow stands empty, the 
school house is closed, the Christians are re- 
moved and all that remains is the opportunity 
and a challenge. 

What is the definite opportunity and chal- 
lenge? Hatta has a population of four thousand 
five hundred. The Hatta Tahsil, or district, has 
in it four hundred and thirty-six villages, with 
a total population of one hundred and twenty- 
two thousand one hundred and forty-nine. There 
are one hundred and twenty people to the 
square mile; there are at least ten main castes, 
Brahmans, Ahirs, Chamars, Gonds, Kurmis, 
Kacchis, etc. This whole district is now without 
a missionary. Mrs. Rioch, who is a physician, 
and who gave medical assistance to the people, 
Is of course at Mungeli with her husband. There 

[158] 



HATTA 



is no mission of any other communion in the 
district. 

Here is a great unoccupied field, for the 
present at least, entirely neglected. The people 
are there, the opportunity is there, the chal- 
lenge is there, and the obligation is unmistakably 
there. For we have already put our hands to 
the plow. The future will reveal what we shall 
do both with the bungalow and the opportunity. 



[159] 



CHAPTER IX 



BINA 



CHAPTER IX 

BINA 

IN THE SHADOW OF THE GREAT STUPA 

Not far from Bina is located the ruins of the 
Great Stupa, or Tope. These ancient ruins are 
some of the last remains of Buddhism. They 
now form one of the most picturesque as well as 
one of the most interesting monuments of India. 
The dome which is forty-two feet high and one 
hundred and six feet in diameter, rises from a 
plinth of fourteen feet. The Tope was crowned 
by an altar or pedestal surrounded by a rail, and 
must once have been nearly one hundred feet 
high. Not far from the Great Stupa are other 
Stupas of like design. In one of these Stupas 
was found relics of the two famous disciples of 
Buddha. There are also the ruins of a Buddhist 
temple here, said to be the oldest structural 
temple in existence. 

Here also are the remains of several courts, 
surrounded by monastic cells. On the eastern 
side of what was evidently the principal court is 
a lofty shrine containing an image of Buddha, 
seated in that familiar attitude, beneath the 
Bodhi tree, when touching the earth with his 

[163] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

right hand, he called on her to bear witness for 
him against Mara, the evil one. Nine out of ten 
visitors imagine that this shrine is not Buddhist 
at all but Hindu, for its style is precisely that of 
a Hindu temple. Were it not for the statue of 
Buddha and some of the images in the niches 
around its outer walls, there would be nothing to 
indicate its Buddhist character. This indicates 
that Buddhism had come deeply under the in- 
fluence of Hinduism, even in the matter of its 
architecture. 



The fact that Buddhism seems to have lost 
out completely in the conflict with Hinduism, 
does not discourage our Christian forces at Bina. 
The great conflict is on there and from all indi- 
cations Christianity is making headway while 
Hinduism seems to be on the decline. Seven live, 
energetic Sunday-schools are doing business in 
different sections of Bina. The Sunday-school 
for the sweepers had an attendance of sixteen. 
The girls' Sunday-school had an attendance of 
twenty-five. The upper primary had thirty; the 
Anglo-Vernacular, twenty-five. The Christian 
Sunday-school at the church had forty- two, 
another had thirty-eight; and the "poor Sunday- 
school" had but five. At this school grain is dis- 
tributed to the needy people. 

There is a church service in the morning in 
English, attended by a few of the English-speak- 
ing people of the town. There is a Hindi service 

[164] 



BINA 



and communion in the afternoon. T. N. Hill 
directs this aggressive program of enlargement. 
He has three or four evangelists as his assist- 
ants, who work in the town and outside of the 
town as well. At certain seasons of the year 
they go on evangelistic camping tours. On 
these tours they pitch their tents almost under 
the shadow of the Great Stupa. From a central 
village they cover an area, in a circle of four or 
five miles, reaching ten or twelve villages with 
the message. They usually speak in from four 
to six villages a day. In a twenty days' camping 
trip they would reach from fifty to eighty vill- 
ages. On such a tour they spoke personally to 
some nine hundred men and six hundred women. 
This was the only preaching done in these 
villages for a whole year. 

In a poor section of the city Mr. Hill and his 
helpers held a service for the members of the 
basor caste. They work in bamboo, making 
baskets and other articles for sale. They are 
low caste and their children are not allowed to 
go to school with the others. Fifteen people 
gathered under a tree for the service. One old 
woman sat by a fire to keep warm in the early 
morning. Several goats and dogs were also in 
attendance. They gave good attention to the 
singing, but the sermon was beyond their com- 
prehension. A number of these people were at 
the point where they were about ready to break 
caste and accept Christianity. 



[165] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

Another service was held for the butchers. 
They are but little above the chamars' caste. 
This service was also held under a tree with but 
ten people present. They listened eagerly to 
everything that was said. They did not under- 
stand fully that the New Testament was better 
than any other book. No books were bought 
that morning as most, if not all of those present 
were unable to read. 

However these people, as well as the 
sweepers, and those in the villages, gladly hear 
the message. They have a natural interest in 
any white man who comes along. They show 
him courtesy and reverence. They also have a 
keen interest in the babu, an educated Indian, 
whom they think has absorbed the wisdom 
and learning of the white man. Hence when 
the babu speaks they give him careful attention. 
So, little by little, the message is getting into 
their minds and hearts, and Mr. "Tom" Hill feels 
that in their intensive, constructive program for 
the next ten years, great progress will be made 
at Bina. 



Mr. Elsam seemed to be kept busy in keep- 
ing the school and the dispensary running 
smoothly. He had just started a school for the 
sweepers and had about twenty-five on the roll. 
These bright-eyed boys and girls, although the 
poorest of the poor, seemed as intelligent and as 
quick to learn as the children of the high caste 

[166] 



BINA 



Brahmans. Yet the government makes no pro- 
vision whatever for the education of these child- 
ren. Many of the people would object to it if 
they did. 

The girls* upper primary school had thirty- 
eight enrolled. Three teachers were employed, 
and they seemed to be doing good work. They 
are strong in mental arithmetic. The Indian 
schools teach the multiplication table up to the 
25's. These girls knew everything up to the 16's. 

The Anglo- Vernacular, that is, the Hindi- 
English middle school, had twenty-one in the 
classes. It is held in a rented building and the 
three teachers were busy with their pupils. 

The boys' upper primary school was held in 
the church. This school is held from 10:00 
o'clock to 4:00. The enrollment is eighty-nine 
and most of these boys come from the high caste 
and Mohammedan homes. In all of these 
schools, as in the other stations, the Bible is 
systematically taught. 

It is only fair to give the church at home a 
glimpse of the shadow as well as the sunshine. 
Just a short time before my arrival in India, a 
young chap, who claimed to have been a teacher, 
drifted in from another mission. The need for 
qualified teachers is very great in all mission 
stations, and this fellow was given temporary 
employment. He looked like a desperado and 
his main qualification seemed to be that he could 
carry a tune a little better than some of the rest 
of the teachers, who couldn't sing at all. His 

[167] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

influence in the school was bad from the begin- 
ning. There was indignation in the camp one 
morning when it was found that this fellow had 
persuaded one of the other teachers who was 
lukewarm in his Christian life to accompany 
him to a dance in one of the neighboring villages. 
This new chap had dressed up like an Indian 
dancing girl, but it was not reported whether he 
excelled in the bunny-hug, the turkey trot, or the 
shimmy. However he had quite successfully 
disgraced both himself and the mission. When 
brought to task about the matter, they had as 
their alibi that they were thus trying to get on 
good terms with the village people and win them 
to Christianity. But the alibi didn't work, and 
these fellows got their walking papers before 
breakfast. 

3 

Mr. Elsam was also responsible for the con- 
duct of the small hospital and dispensary. A Dr. 
Babu — sub-assistant surgeon, is in active charge. 
After receiving his training he took the govern- 
ment examination and has had considerable ex- 
perience. He is a tall fellow, with thick black 
whiskers and very much interested in his work. 
He is assisted by the compounder and a nurse 
who is the wife of the compounder. 

The buildings are located in an outer section 
of Bina, across the railroad tracks from the other 
mission property. Most of the patients come 
from this neglected part of the city. The hos- 

[168] 



BINA 



pital certainly is located at the place where it is 
needed the most. Practically all of the patients 
come from this immediate neighborhood. About 
three thousand different people were in attend- 
ance last year. When a group of eight or ten 
receive their treatments, a service is held by the 
compounder. 

The annual government grant is rupees five 
hundred. The municipality of Bina gives three 
hundred annually, and the district board donates 
two hundred. These gifts, along with the fees, 
make the institution practically self-supporting. 

THE MISS SAHIBS AT WORK 



Just across the street from this hospital, 
away out in the edge of town, is the bungalow 
occupied by Miss Lena Russell and Miss Lulu 
Garton. This is their home. They live there 
alone. These two college girls, in the midst of 
grossest idolatry, are assisting in the campaign 
against Hinduism. How these and other re- 
fined, Christian, single women keep up their 
courage and their zeal, and their faith, through 
the long dreary months and years, is a constant 
source of wonder. At the 11:00 o'clock break- 
fast table I asked them what they did at night, 
after the hard day's work was done. "Oh we 
sit and read and sometimes talk about the work 
of the day." I asked them, "But living here 

[169] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

all alone, do you ever laugh and sing and joke in 
the evening?" "Well, not very often," was their 
reply. 

But the work and their devotion to and 
absorption in it, seem to be their very life. The 
joy of life is the work of life to them, and so 
early in the paorning they gathered with their 
three Bible women on the little porch of the 
school house for prayer. What could these girls 
do with only three poorly educated Bible women? 
Well, a part of the joy of their lives is in the 
teaching, training, encouraging and directing 
these three women. And when, after prayer 
they formed two groups and started out to do 
their work, I pegged along after one group to 
find out what they did. 

They went into the home of a blacksmith 
to teach the women there. The man had two 
wives. The older woman had a lot of jewelry and 
put on a gold nose ring nearly as large around 
as a saucer and had me take her photograph. 
The younger wife had three children and showed 
every deference and respect to the older woman. 
She scoured the brass cooking pots with mud, 
cleaned up around the yard and seemed to be 
doing more than her share of the work. 

While Miss Garton was teaching them, a 
beggar came to the gate with his begging bowl. 
He was a Brahman beggar, a big strong fellow, 
and he stopped at the gate and rang a little bell 
which he carried with him. One of the women 
went immediately into the house, brought out a 

[170] 



BIN A 



couple of handfuls of grain and gave it to the 
fellow and he passed on. These religious tramps 
are thus encouraged in their laziness. 

At a second house there were three women 
and five children and an old lady who was the 
mother-in-law. They asked if I was Miss Gar- 
ton's husband. When told that my Mem Sahib 
was in America and that we had eight daughters, 
the old lady shook her head and said, "That 
wouldn't please us in Hindustan." The Bible 
women talked at this house of the "Feeding of 
the five thousand." 

In the third house the man was at home 
and seemed quite interested in what the ladies 
were trying to explain to his "female." He 
wanted to do part of the talking himself. He 
brought out an ugly looking elephant god, about 
the size of a teddy bear. "What can he do?" I 
asked him. He replied, "He can do each and 
everything." "Can he make it rain?" "Yes sir, 
he can do everything." "But," said I, "What if 
he gets broken." "I don't know, sir, he can do 
each and everything is my belief." Miss Garton 
said to him, "We worship the real God who made 
the earth, the Creator of the world." The man 
insisted, "No Miss Sahib, this god was in the be- 
ginning. He can do all things." After consider- 
able discussion, the man said, "If I go to heaven, 
will I recognize my brother? He died and I loved 
him. I do not know if he can get to heaven or 
not." Miss Garton tried to explain to him some- 
thing about Christianity and finally said, "If you 

[171] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

believe in Christ he can save you." The man 
looked puzzled and said, "Yes, Miss Sahib, but 
all beliefs are different. It's according to your 
belief. It's hard to know." 

Miss Russell says that they go into about 
thirty-six homes. Recently three or four homes 
refused to allow them to come. When they 
pressed the women for the reason they were 
told that the man who owned the houses ordered 
them not to allow the Christians to come. In 
another section of the city they visit regularly 
twelve homes. In still another section, where 
they hold a Sunday-school, they teach all the 
women by gathering them in groups. Sometimes 
the men sit and listen and ask many questions. 
When they explain matters thoroughly to them, 
they often reply, "Oh that's big wisdom, it is 
not for us. We can't understand it." And some- 
times after they tell the gospel story, the women 
will take a long breath and say, "Ram, Ram, 
Ram." But on the whole the women are friendly. 
One woman asked Miss Russell, "Where have 
you been? I thought you were displeased, be- 
cause you haven't been here for a long time." 

With such busy lives as these, teaching the 
women in the home, encouraging their Bible 
women, keeping the girls' school up to standard, 
teaching and organizing the Sunday-schools 
among the poor people of the city, these young 
women find no time to get lonesome or dis- 
couraged. The task, to some, may seem unim- 
portant, but it is absolutely necessary if Chris- 

[172] 



BINA 



tianity is to come out victor in its conflict with 
Hinduism. 



The two married women at Bina are as busy- 
as their husbands. Mrs. Hill assists in the Sun- 
day-school and helps teach and encourage the 
Christian women. She looks after her husband, 
darns his socks and looks after the home. When 
he goes on a three weeks' tour, she piles in the 
oxcart and goes along. "Tom" has a fine yoke 
of big white oxen. On these journeys Mrs. Hill 
has charge of the meetings for women. She 
tells them Bible stories, sells portions of the 
Scriptures to them, and teaches them how to 
sing the Christian songs. 

Her mothers' class was the largest in the 
Sunday-school. These women came, many of 
them carrying their babies, and sat on the grass 
in the sun while the lesson was being taught. 
Mrs. Hill talks to them about the care of their 
children, urges them to become Christians, and 
to tell their husbands about the new religion. 
Thus her influence and her teaching goes weekly 
back into many an Indian home, where these 
women discuss with one another and their 
families what the Mem Sahib said and did on 
Sunday. 

Mrs. Elsam is busy with the church work 
also, in addition to the care of her home. She 
is a motherly sort of a woman and the girls and 
women come to her with all of their troubles. 

[173] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

She is also the station and inter-station match- 
maker. She sees to it that the Christian men 
fall in love with Christian women when they are 
ready to venture on the sea of matrimony. She 
also sees to it that the Christian girls show a 
preference for husbands who are members of the 
church. Many a Christian home has been estab- 
lished by the wise suggestions of Mrs. Elsam. 
She had a fine courtship in process between 
the chief evangelist of Bina and a fine girl in the 
embroidery department at Kulpahar. The girl 
was allowed to make a trip to Bina to inspect 
her intended and be inspected by him, under the 
careful chaperonage of Mrs. Elsam. The affair 
seemed to be highly satisfactory to all three of 
them. Mrs. Elsam gave the bride two cups and 
saucers, a copy of "Pilgrims Progress," and I 
gave her a new silver rupee. A few weeks later 
the wedding took place, and the young couple, 
no doubt, "lived happily ever afterwards." 



Buddhism in India has had its day and 
ceased to be. All that is left of it is the Great 
Stupa, Buddha's tower and other ancient relics 
and ruins, which hark back to its ancient glory. 
Its vitality was expended in its attempt to reach 
the state of Nirvana, which if ever reached, 
would mean a state of inertia, inactivity and 
mental nothingness. 

Not so the Christian religion. Its great 
words are verbs, go, teach, preach, make dis- 

[174] 



BINA 



ciples. Its geography not an easy place to sit in 
contemplation, but all the world, every nation, 
from the rising sun unto the going down there- 
of. In India, therefore, Christianity is on the go, 
increasing far more rapidly than Hinduism; in- 
creasing at a greater ratio than the increase of 
the population; and increasing in the last ten 
years at a more rapid rate than in any previous 
decade. This progress is only a prophecy of the 
coming day, when the shadow of the Great Stupa 
shall fall within the shadow of the Cross. 



[175] 



CHAPTER X 



JHANSI 



CHAPTER X 
JHANSI 

THE IRON GOD PAVES THE WAY 

Here is a city where the gods of stone and 
brass make way for the god of iron. A city that 
resounds to the clang of iron and steel from 
early morning until late at night. A city where 
men stand in reverence and awe before the red- 
hot moulten ore; where they fashion it into 
huge plates of iron and steel, and where, by the 
magic power of machinery, they build it into 
the great iron horses of commerce. A city of 
about seventy thousand, where every third man 
is employed in the great railroad shops repair- 
ing and constructing cars and engines for nearly 
all the central part of India. 

Men whose forefathers for generations con- 
structed nothing more intricate than a mud 
house, an oxcart, or a wooden plow, are now 
skilled mechanics, cogs in the great modern in- 
dustrial machine. The boiler maker, with his 
electric bit and hammer, performing miracles 
during the day, does not bow down at night to 
a dusty, crude stone god. These great engines 
and the process of their making, are the mes- 

[179] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

sengers of a new order to the people of Jhansi. 
Every new engine, growing from the raw ma- 
terial into its completed form, has become a 
twentieth century juggernaut, driven by their 
own hands across their superstitions, their pro- 
vincialisms and their customs of caste. The 
ignorant, narrow priests, with their faces turned 
toward the past, are no longer able to dictate to 
these progressive high priests of the god of iron, 
who reign supreme in this huge, throbbing 
temple of industry and power. 



The first and foremost work in such a place 
as this would naturally be a school for the sons 
of those who work in iron. W. E. Gordon is 
busily engaged in the conduct of such a school, 
two hundred and forty boys being enrolled in the 
primary and middle grades. Ninety per cent of 
all these boys are the children of railroad em- 
ployees, and since the government does not 
furnish education for these children, the rail- 
roads pay to the mission rupees one hundred 
per month for the support of this school. 

Eleven teachers are employed, nine of whom 
are Christians, seven having received their 
training at Damoh. The mission can not always 
secure Christian teachers for every class. The 
building is owned by the mission and was built 
originally for about one hundred boys, but now 
it is entirely inadequate. The school is not 

[180] 



JHANSI 



recognized by the government as a standard 
school on account of the poor equipment. Only 
two of the teachers in the English department are 
up to government standard. The primary class 
met on the porch of the building and the children 
were learning their letters by the use of tamarind 
seeds. The teacher had nearly a half bushel of 
these seeds for this purpose. All the teachers 
and classes are doing their best under the circum- 
stances and are very proud of the school. Several 
of the rooms still had the decorations up which 
were used for the Christmas program. 

Mr. Gordon and the head master are firm 
believers in systematic exercise for the boys. The 
morning drill was well conducted, showing that 
the masters had been quite thorough in their 
work. At the recess period, forty or fifty boys 
had a tug of war and other interesting games 
were participated in by these energetic, growing 
boys. Mr. Gordon thinks that these boys of the 
railroad employees are much freer from their 
superstitions than the average boys of India. 
The religious approach to them is much easier. 

At the chapel period I had the opportunity 
of making a speech to the older boys. By the 
use of the Graflex I illustrated to them the idea 
of thoroughness and cleanliness in body, mind 
and heart. Mr. Gordon, at the close of my ad- 
dress, required the English class to write up 
my speech for the English lesson. Here is the 
paper that received the highest grade : 



[181] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

ADVICE OF MR. WILSON, SECRETARY OF MIS- 
SIONARY SOCIETY IN AMERICA, ON HIS 
VISIT TO THE INDIAN STUDENTS. 

Mr. Wilson told us that the students must 
have three chief things in them. Of these, first, 
is, to have a good physical strength; unless a stu- 
dent has a good physical strength in him, he can- 
not do any enterprising work and always looks 
to be sad and seems to have no energy in him. 
Then Mr. Wilson said that God has not given us 
bodies to disfigure ourselves, but to preserve and 
beautify them, with the help of some exercise. 
He told us that, in his country in America it is a 
great offense to disfigure oneself, and the person 
who does it is duly punished. He then gave us 
an example of the "Sadhu" who was achieving 
his object with the severest kind of penance by 
seating himself on pointed iron spikes. Mr. Wil- 
son talked with the "Sadhu" on the point and re- 
proved him for the sin that he had been making 
against his body which God has given a man to 
preserve and not to destroy. 

The second thing he told us is, that the stu- 
dents should have a clear brain, so that they 
might understand and grasp whatever is taught 
in the class, because if they have a good stout 
body and no good brain, then there is no use 
for the body. Therefore they should try to have 
them both side by side. 

The third thing a student should have in 
him is a pure mind and merciful heart. Unless 
he has a pure mind and merciful heart he can- 
not have the noble thoughts and sympathies for 
the sufferer. Mr. Wilson then gave us an ex- 
ample, which he saw, during tours through 
Central Provinces, that a poor woman brought 
her young child to the missionary of the place to 
be protected and reared up, as she could not sup- 
port both child and herself. The missionary who 
was a great humane woman, took the child from 
her and promised to care for him. She did this 
kind act because she was taught and knew the 
value of mercy and was, besides, a pure hearted 
woman. 

Then he made a striking comparison be- 
tween his camera, which he said was of the 
finest quality in the world, and the body. The 
[182] 



JHANSI 



leather that surrounded the camera he com- 
pared to the human skin, the plate to the brain 
and the lens to the mind. As some object, good 
or evil is reflected through the lens to the plate, 
so any thought, good or bad, is reflected at once 
from the mind to the brain. Then concluding 
his speech he said that a student should try to 
be like a camera with strong body, diligent mind, 
and merciful and pure heart. 



Another chap, however, did not seem to 
grasp the speech quite as well as this one. His 
essay read as follows : 

Mr. Wilson came to see our school. He gave 
a salaam to us of American boys and said that 
when I was coming to India the American boys 
requested me, "When you returned to America 
say something to us about Indian boys." He 
gave a instrict lecture in which he taught strong 
body, developed mind and clean, sympathy and 
kind heart by the help of his camera. The leather 
of camera was very good it is like our body its 
lens is also good like our mind and its inner part 
like our heart so we should make our body as a 
camebra as it is good in sight of everybody. If 
we do so then we will be as so good in sight of 
everybody as camebra. He said a story about a 
cruel heart. He saw a man in Harda who has a 
old wife he kicked her till she was young he kept 
her so in the same way a man may be turned 
only when his body mind and heart are in good 
order as the maker of this camera has used best 
metearial in making it. 



A few blocks from this boys' school Miss 
Ora Haight conducts a school for girls. It is in a 
rented building, but was swept out carefully and 
kept very neat and clean. It is a school of forty- 
four girls, with three teachers, and goes only 

[183] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

through the first standard of the primary grade. 
These are the daughters of the railroad people 
and the shop people. The grant for this school 
is rupees two hundred and twelve per month. 
One of the teachers in this school has only 
studied through the third standard primary 
grade, and yet she is the best teacher available. 
It will thus be seen how difficult it is to get 
properly trained teachers for our schools. How- 
ever, there is talk of the establishment of a gov- 
ernment normal school in Jhansi, where teachers 
may receive the proper training. 

These teachers take the little girls outside 
for their daily drill. They have a scarf drill, a 
fan drill, and several interesting little marches. 
The space for these exercises was in front of a 
great stone idol painted in hideous colors, but 
no one seemed to pay any attention to him, nor 
to be even conscious of his presence. 

Miss Haight was also conducting a school 
near the railroad shops. It was in a section of 
the city of five thousand or more people, where 
there was no government or railroad school. 
There were seventy boys in this school, with but 
two teachers, an Indian Christian and his wife. 
The building was kept up in good shape and the 
yard was kept clean. A bunch of banana trees 
was growing in the yard. 

The two narrow long rooms of the school 
building were crowded full of children. They 
say it would be easy to have twice that number 

[184] 



JHANSI 



of children if they had the room and the teach- 
ers. Miss Haight and the teachers not only 
give careful instruction to the children at the 
school but they visit their homes and get the 
parents interested in the school, and the church 
as well. 

3 

In one of the buildings, back of the boys' 
school, Dr. Ada McNeill Gordon runs a dispens- 
ary. This work was formerly done in the rear 
of the mission bungalow, but it is the hope to 
develop a modest dispensary, in connection with 
the boys' school, to keep them fit and to serve 
the people in that section of the city. A small 
stock of drugs is kept there and the average 
attendance is from ten to thirty per day. It is 
not the plan to build up a hospital here, for 
there is already a woman's union hospital about 
three miles away in a different part of the city. 
There is also a government dispensary and a 
railroad dispensary, but the latter, of course, 
ministers only to men. The work Dr. Gordon is 
doing is largely for women and children, and 
being in a section where no one else is at work, 
is meeting the real needs of the people. 

Dr. Gordon and Miss Haight have been tak- 
ing an active part in the temperance movement. 
The agitation is on for a "dry India." Many of 
the leading Hindus and Mohammedans have 
joined with the Christians in the temperance 
movement. They have made speeches and cir- 

[185] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

culated petitions for the closing of the liquor 
shops and petitioned the government to revoke 
the licenses of all liquor dealers who have dis- 
obeyed the law. It will be remembered that the 
English government is responsible for the liquor 
trade of India. And the same stubborn resistance 
to the prohibition agitation is shown by the 
English officials in India, as is shown by the 
politicians, the government, and even the state 
church in England itself. What a paradox it is 
that Hindus and Mohammedans, members of be- 
lated and non-Christian races, should be com- 
pelled to petition a Christian nation which rules 
over them, to free their nation from the curse 
of the liquor traffic. And how inconsistent it is 
for Great Britain to collect revenue from a busi- 
ness which debauches and destroys the people 
whom they have set their hands to uplift. 



The Jhansi church is small in numbers, but 
earnest and harmonious. The native pastor and 
the other Christian workers are doing everything 
they can to build up and strengthen the church. 
Mr. Gordon is an earnest believer in having the 
social activities of the people center around the 
church. He is trying to make arrangements for 
a reading room, a game room, tennis court, bad- 
minton court, and other recreational features; 
also for dormitories for a limited number of 
single men, who by such means would be pro- 
vided with a clean and wholesome environment. 

[186] 



JHANSI 



It is the hope to build up among the railroad em- 
ployees, a strong self-supporting church. Their 
salaries are higher than the average salaries of 
India, and their minds are more open to the 
message. With the proper equipment and wise 
leadership a great work may develop there in 
the next few years. 

THE FUTURE PROGRAM 

The big program of the future is the de- 
velopment of an adequate educational program. 
Already a beautiful plot of ten and a half acres 
has been secured just in the rear of the two 
mission bungalows. The railroad has agreed 
to give rupees fifteen thousand for the erection 
of a new school on condition that the mission 
puts in a like sum. The railroad also agrees to 
give an annual grant of rupees one thousand 
two hundred for the maintenance of the school. 
Such a school, of course, would be modern in 
every respect, and along with the spacious play- 
ground would have a wide influence for good. 

It may be asked, "Why will the railroad 
make such a large grant for the erection and 
maintenance of the school ?" There are two 
reasons. First, they feel an obligation to furnish 
educational advantages for the children of their 
employees. There may also be a selfish motive 
here, for they are looking forward to the secur- 
ing of young men for their employ, and the 
young men who have the best education make 

[187] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

their best skilled workmen. The second reason 
is that the owners of the railroad know that the 
missionary will give better supervision and 
management to the school than can be obtained 
in any other way. Practically every missionary 
is a college graduate. He has not only educa- 
tional advantages, but he has educational ideals, 
and he is constantly bringing the teachers and 
the whole school up to these higher ideals. Both 
the government and the railroads fully under- 
stand that the best superintendents obtainable 
for their schools are the missionaries, and the 
giving of liberal grants for the support of such 
schools is the common custom. It is simuly a 
matter of forethought and wisdom that these 
grants are made. 

On the other hand these schools give the 
missionaries an opportunity to give religious in- 
struction, for it is fully understood that system- 
atic Bible study will be given. Hence there is 
a half hour of Christian teaching in every class, 
every day, in all the mission schools. 

The details for the co-operation in the 
carrying out of the enlarged school program 
have not been fully worked out. But the plans for 
the future will no doubt include some such pro- 
gram as suggested above. 



[188] 



CHAPTER XI 



PENDRA ROAD 



CHAPTER XI 

PENDRA ROAD 

A CROSS SECTION OF THE NEW JERUSALEM 



In 1900 Mr. and Mrs. Neils Madsen started 
in at Pendra Road. There were no Christians 
there, and it was in a jungle part of the country 
and far from prospective. They built their own 
little house of leaves, grass, and branches, and 
lived in it, while a larger and better house was 
growing. Houses are not built in a hurry in 
India; they have to grow. 

The villages of India are very hard places 
for the Christians to live in. Their castes op- 
press them, their social customs make them out- 
casts, and the owners of the villages often 
persecute them. Mr. and Mrs. Madsen conceived 
the idea of building a Christian village out of 
their new converts. They secured a piece of 
ground, and when the first family was baptized, 
they helped in the planning and erection of a 
little home. 

When others came, homes were erected for 
them, or rather they were encouraged and as- 
sisted to erect homes of their own. After a while 

[191] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

the idea of "home" began to grow in their minds. 
The Hindi language has no word for home. 
They say "I am going to my house." The home 
idea is not there at all. When these people were 
able to build large houses, they simply built them 
around the small ones until finished. Then they 
went inside, tore down and carried out the old 
house, and the job was done. 

I visited this village, and found that the 
streets had been laid out, so that the houses 
were not crowded up against one another. A 
group of people were at work grading the streets, 
to get them in good shape before the rains began 
in the spring. Scores of Indian villages visited 
had not a single graded street. 

The village now has a population of about 
two hundred. There are forty-six men, forty- 
eight women, and one hundred and nine chil- 
dren. All of the houses in the village are owned 
by the people themselves, except a few furnished 
by the mission for the teachers and evangelists. 
Practically all the men are cultivators, most of 
them own their own oxen or buffaloes, and their 
carts. They go out to their fields in the morning, 
do their work and come back to their families at 
night. Many of the women, when necessary, 
also go to the fields to labor, as is the Indian 
custom. 

No one but a Christian can build a home 
in this village. It is most refreshing to visit an 
Indian village where there are no idols under 
the trees, no temples, and no signs of the pre- 

[192] 



PENDRA ROAD 



valent idolatry which is to be found on every 
hand. I visited a number of these homes. The 
contrast between them and the Hindu homes is 
striking. Their homes are well kept, swept nice 
and clean, with pictures of various kinds on the 
walls. To be sure many of them are crude, but 
they are groping their way. 

On the outside walls of several of these 
houses are Scripture verses made of the mud of 
which the walls are plastered. They are then 
whitewashed, so that it gives a very neat and 
clean appearance. Their little stone mills with 
which they grind their grain, are either on the 
verandas or in the houses. Their little stoves 
on the floor, made of mud and stones, have been 
built without any cost whatever. 

2 

A village school is maintained for the chil- 
dren of these Christians. Out of the one hundred 
and nine children, fifty-nine are in school, only 
six children of school age are not in the school. 
Many villages about this size have no schools, 
not even a person in the whole village being able 
to read or write. 

Instead of the temple, there is a small build- 
ing in the center of the village which might be 
called the town hall. It really has two principal 
functions. First, it is a place of prayer. It 
simply has a roof, and a floor. There are no 
seats, as the Indians prefer to sit on the floor. 
Every night the men of the town gather here, 
with Mr. Madsen, and they sing a few songs 

[193] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

and have prayer. From twenty to thirty men 
meet every night for this prayer meeting. 

In the morning a prayer meeting for women 
is held. There were twenty-one women present 
and five children. They were just finishing read- 
ing all of John's writings. They read around the 
circle, and all the women present could read from 
their Bibles except two. If it were a Hindu 
village the order would be reversed, and not more 
than two out of twenty-one could read, and the 
strong probability would be that not even the 
two could read. Several of the women lead in 
earnest, simple prayer. 

Second, this building is a panchaiyat meet- 
ing place. That means a place where a com- 
mittee meets representing the whole village, or 
where the villagers themselves come to decide 
matters relating to the welfare of the village. In 
case two women get into a quarrel, that is a 
matter which concerns the whole village. Such 
a case recently occurred. The men met, heard 
the case, called the women in for their testimony, 
made their decision, wrote it down in a book, 
and then sent the clerk with the book to the 
homes of the women. The clerk read the de- 
cision to them, and their husbands agreed that 
they would see that their wives lived up to it. 
That decision is their law, and all cases so de- 
cided are carefully recorded. 

3 

In this meeting place they also decide about 
the marriage of their children. The question of 

[194] 



PENDRA ROAD 



the marriage of two young people is not their 
own individual affair, or their family affair, but 
an affair of the whole village. The Christian 
religion need not change their marriage plans 
in this respect. The day before I arrived, two 
grandfathers called a meeting to arrange for the 
marriage of their grandchildren. 

All the men of the village came together, 
the young man of twenty and the young woman 
of seventeen not being present. When the meet- 
ing was convened they sat in perfect silence for 
several minutes with their heads down, very 
humble. Finally Mr. Madsen said: 

"Why doesn't someone speak?" 

A man replied with his head down: "How 
can we speak? Who is worthy to speak on such 
an occasion as this?" 

Mr. Madsen said: "Well if there is nothing 
to speak about, let's go home." 

After a little, a man said: "There is some- 
thing, and you know what it is." 

Another pause, and at last a man announced 
that the meeting was for the purpose of arrang- 
ing the marriage of these two young folks. Then 
the real meeting began. What gifts shall the 
man's family make to the girl? Some worthy 
gift to bind him to her, so the temptation will 
not be so great for him to put her away, if he 
gets angry. The villagers decided that four 
pieces of cloth, enough for four saris should be 
given, one sari for the girl, and the others for her 
family. (One for the mother-in-law.) 

[195] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

In addition, the man should give rupees 
fifteen. Some to be deposited in the name of the 
girl, some to be given to her to buy cooking pots 
and kettles, and the rest to be used to buy a 
modest feast for the occasion. 

Then the question arose as to whether the 
boy could support the girl. That also concerns 
the whole village. The family represented that 
he could do certain work for which he got cer- 
tain wages, but that he for the present would 
live with his family which would make it easier 
to support her. To all these arrangements the 
two families agreed. The meeting took formal 
action, and the two young people were notified 
that their marriage arrangements were all made 
for them. All they had to do was to get married. 
He had never called on her in her home, nor 
taken her out riding, or walking, nor even taken 
her home from church. The social customs are 
all against that procedure in India. If the young 
fellow does not properly provide for his new 
wife he has the whole village to face for his 
neglect. 



One night I was called to meet the villagers 
in the panchaiyat house. They had some Indian 
music, two stringed instruments, and a long 
bamboo flute. After the music, a man got up 
and made a speech telling me that they were 
glad to welcome me, that I had come a long way 
to see them, and that they were very glad I was 

[196] 



PENDRA ROAD 



there. He said that since I had brought to them 
the salaams of the people of America, they also 
wanted me to convey to the Christians of 
America their best salaams, and to say that they 
were trying to do everything in their power not 
to bring dishonor upon the name of Christ. 

This village is very much better than a non- 
Christian village in its moral conditions, its 
sanitary conditions, its educational advantages 
for the children, in its great advance in the 
home life, and the fine religious atmosphere that 
emanates from those daily prayer meetings. 
Truly, compared to the Hindu villages, it is a 
cross section of the new Jerusalem come down 
out of heaven to bless the land of India. 

And it most certainly is greatly needed in 
the Pendra Road area. The next mission station 
north is one hundred and thirty-five miles. The 
next east is two hundred miles, the next south 
is sixty-four, and west is one hundred miles. 
And hundreds of villages in this great section 
have no gospel preaching, and no provision being 
made at the present time to take the message 
to them. 

A "T. B." LIGHTHOUSE 

Like a lighthouse on the shores of the sea 
is the Tuberculosis Sanatorium at Pendra Road. 
Or, a better figure, what the lifeline is to the 
drowning man who is going down for the third 
time. Who has looked upon the face of a man 
or a woman with tuberculosis, and has not read 
there the hopelessness of despair? j- 197 -j 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

Five years ago no such institution existed 
throughout all the Central Provinces. Both the 
government and the missions had overlooked 
the care of the unfortunate people with tuber- 
culosis. That statement of need to our Woman's 
Board in America had an immediate answer in 
life and money and buildings, and the result is 
the present splendid institution, with Dr. Mary 
Longdon and Miss Andrus, a trained nurse, act- 
ively and enthusiastically engaged in the great 
task. 

There is a fine administration building; 
there is a new bungalow for the ladies ; there are 
three units of the hospital building and dormi- 
tories, with plans for more as the demands may 
justify. There is the cook house, and the dining 
room and nurses' quarters. All of these build- 
ings, with the exception of the bungalow and the 
administration building are inclosed by a brick 
wall in a five-acre tract, beautifully laid out and 
covered with great forest trees. Each of the 
wards or houses will accommodate about twenty 
patients. On the outside are the neat, private 
wards for those who desire such. 

And talk about city planning! This whole 
layout is as neatly and carefully done as if a high 
priced landscape gardener had been on the job. 
The bungalow, the administration building, and 
the ward houses on the outside, are in harmony 
with the modest and yet substantial buildings 
on the inside of the wall. They are all roofed 
with red tile. Even the brick wall surrounding 

[198] 



PENDRA ROAD 



the grounds is in harmony, color scheme and all, 
with the buildings. Dr. Longdon's dream of a 
neat substantial, well organized home for hope- 
less women is actually coming true before her 
very eyes. 

But to Dr. Longdon the women are not hope- 
less, and she is inspiring within them the idea 
that their cases are not hopeless. Most of the 
women thus far have been from our own mission. 
The first year there were eighteen patients ; the 
second year, twenty; and the third year, twenty- 
two. The theory of this institution is: 

First, that the patients must get rich food 
and plenty of it. Hence each woman gets one 
quart of milk per day, meat three times a week, 
eggs every other day, and plenty of curry and 
rice. The milk of the patients costs rupees one 
hundred per month. It is put up in bottles and 
jugs according to the direction of Dr. Longdon 
and is brought six miles in buffalo cart or oxcart. 

Second, that they should have plenty of 
fresh air. Hence the ward buildings are erected 
without walls. The roof and the pillars which 
support it, and the clean cement floor is all. 
Good fresh ozone thus comes into these homes 
day and night. They are thus compelled to 
breathe fresh air. 

Third, to keep their hands and minds busy. 
So the women must grind their own grain, do 
their own washing, carry water from the well, 
hoe the gardens, keep the buildings clean, cut 
the grass. In short do as much as their strength 
will allow. [- 199 -j 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

Fourth, to maintain in their hearts a strong 
Christian hope. Hence, there is a church service 
in the Sanatorium every Sunday. In one corner 
of the administration building is a neat little 
chapel. The communion service is held here 
each Sunday. They use the individual cups. A 
neat little organ assists them in the music — a 
gift of Mrs. T. W. Phillips, Jr., of Pennsylvania. 

With this program of treatment even the 
hopeless need not despair. Three women nurses 
who have been carefully trained for this partic- 
ular work, assist the missionaries. Charts are 
kept of each patient, showing the temperature, 
etc., every day. And the work has not been with- 
out its good results. Last year they dismissed 
twenty-five cases in which the disease is sup- 
posed to have been permanently checked. 

The fee for each patient is rupees ten per 
month. The actual cost for the maintenance of 
each patient is about rupees twelve per month. 
In case the patient cannot pay at all, the mission 
supplies the treatment, and the care of the 
patient is just as good as if the full cost were 
being paid. One of the plans to keep down the 
cost of maintenance is the establishment of a 
poultry yard to supply the institution with good 
fresh eggs. There are already some fine white 
leghorns as a starter. Pure food, fresh air, work, 
religion! What a fine combination to change 
darkness into light; sorrow into joy; and de- 
spair into hope. 



[200] 



CHAPTER XII 



BILASPUR 



CHAPTER XII 

BILASPUR 

IN THE VILLAGES ROUND ABOUT 



I took a very interesting tour among the 
villages round about Bilaspur. In a large num- 
ber of these villages we now have a few Chris- 
tians. In company with J. E. Moody I went on 
a five days' trip, camping in our tent at night, 
moving camp every day to another group of vil- 
lages. Our tent was taken out in a buffalo cart. 
Moody and I rode horseback, and on bicycle, 
alternating from time to time. 

One village we entered has seven Christians, 
another twenty, another two, still another 
eleven, etc. In nearly every village the evan- 
gelists would tell us of one or two or more people 
who were about ready for baptism. 

At the village of Napaniya there is a good 
church building, as such buildings go out here. 
It is the best building in town by far. It is made 
of mud walls and a dirt floor, and has a tile roof. 
Those who advocate that the church should be 
the finest building in town could have their de- 
sires satisfied here at Napaniya. 

[203] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

We had a meeting with the Christians 
at ten A. M. About fifteen men and women, and 
as many children gathered for the service. One 
man had gone back into caste, but was now re- 
pentant, and wanted to be forgiven and taken 
back into the church. Another was letting his 
hair grow, which is the first sign that a man is 
drifting back to the old life. But most of the 
Christians are doing their best to remain true. 
A service is held every Sunday, one of the evan- 
gelists coming for the purpose. Ten boys of the 
village can read and write, the evangelist teach- 
ing them in a night school when he comes here 
for the service. 

That night after supper we had a meeting 
in Sawatal, the village near our camping place. 
There are thirty-two Christians, and one of the 
evangelists is located here with his family. The 
meeting was held on the veranda of his house. 
Both of the Malgazars were present. Neither of 
them are Christians, but they are friendly to 
the work, and one of them played a drum as part 
of the music. The porch was crowded full of 
people, perhaps a hundred, sitting on the ground 
in true Indian style. 

As Moody preached to them by the dim light 
of the lantern, I could see them nod their heads 
in assent to what he was saying. Now and then 
an old chap would answer back, or ask a 
question right out in the meeting. When Moody 
was explaining the wisdom of Christian nations 
this old man said, "Yes, you may have wis- 

[204] 



BILASPUR 



dom to make a watch or a camera, but you 
couldn't make an oxcart, and drive the oxen to 
it, without saying bad words." When it comes 
to an oxcart, or buffalo cart, these men are right 
at home, and they like to have the evangelists 
talk down on the plane where they are living. 

As we walked back to our tent that night, 
an old man who has been a Christian for many 
years carried the lantern and showed us the way. 
As we came to the three great tamarind trees 
under which our tent was pitched, the old man 
stopped and said: 

"Sahib, when Ram goes away from India, 
Christianity will come. As long as the people 
say, 'Ram, Ram, Ram/ Christ cannot enter their 
hearts." 

We were on the road soon after sunrise 
the next morning. We arrived at the village of 
Kukusda for the meeting at 8:45. The people 
gathered under a tree in the center of the town. 
There are twenty-six Christians here,who have 
only recently come out of caste. As we ap- 
proached the edge of the village, Moody said to 
me: 

"You are going to see here one of the darkest 
pictures you will see in all India." He was right 
about the shadow, but to me there was also a 
gleam of sunshine and hope. There is no school 
here. The mission is running all the schools it 
can find teachers for now. Not a person in this 
whole village can read or write. About thirty 
people gathered under the tree and only two in 

[205] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

the crowd had on shoes. It was a motley look- 
ing crowd and one could plainly see that the 
years of oppression and lack of education had 
made an indelible impression not only on their 
brown-skinned bodies, but also upon their hearts 
and souls. 

A Sunday-school is held here every Sunday 
under this village tree, by one of the evangelists. 
He comes here for an hour, and then goes on to 
another village on his circuit. The time of our 
visit was the time for the annual Thanksgiving 
offering. They have been taught from the be- 
ginning to give a Thanksgiving offering of money 
or grain, for the many gifts that they are re- 
ceiving from God. As I looked over that crowd 
and saw their poverty stricken faces, I did not 
believe anyone there would give a penny. 

But the evangelists read the Bible, prayed, 
sang some songs in which the whole crowd 
joined, made some short talks to them about 
Christ, and about the Thanksgiving idea. Mr. 
Moody and I also said a few words, and a place 
was cleared on the ground where it had been 
swept clean that morning, for the offering. They 
do not "pass the hat" in India, but each one 
goes up and puts his offering on the altar, which 
in this case was the bare ground. There was no 
urging by the evangelists, there was no song, 
the people simply waited and watched for the 
offerings. As in everything else in India, they 
moved slowly. 

[206] 



BILASPUR 



Finally an old fellow got up and walked a 
few steps away, fumbled in his dhoti — Indian 
substitute for pants — came back and put one 
silver rupee on the ground. That offering would 
be the equal of fifty dollars for a man of moderate 
circumstances in America. A woman came up 
and put four annas — about ten cents — on the 
ground. Then came others, an anna, a pice — 
half a cent — three annas, and a poor fellow who 
could not walk crawled up and put an anna in 
the offering. He is doomed to crawl to the end 
of his days, but he wanted to put something 
down as his Thanksgiving offering to God! 

As the offering proceeded leisurely, two men 
got up and -went away. I said to myself, "Well, 
there are two fellows much like some of our 
American Christians. ,, 

But soon they returned, each carrying a big 
basket of rice on his head. They came forward 
and poured it on the ground beside the money. 
They had no money, but out of their scanty store 
they had given grain. If an American farmer 
would give a fifty bushel load of wheat at the 
present high prices, his offering would not mean 
so much as what those two Indian Christians 
gave that morning. In all there were eighteen 
offerings, out of a total membership of twenty- 
six, which includes the children. No doubt 
every member was represented in that offering. 
The every member canvass has nothing to show 
these poor people. 



[207] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

When I said farewell as we were leaving, 
which means saying "salaams," one man stopped 
me, and said, "Take our salaams to the Chris- 
tians in America." To the ministers and churches 
of America, I pass on the salaams from this 
struggling band of Christians. 



At 11:25, we were in another village named 
Latta. We had crossed the river three times 
that morning, I riding on Ajax, a white "charger" 
and Moody removing his shoes and wading, 
while a native carried his bicycle. Latta is a 
village that in the past has been noted for its 
thievery. Many of the people belonged to the 
thieving caste. Since our mission work began 
and a number of the people have become Chris- 
tians, a new ideal has entered the village. Only 
two or three convictions have been made for 
thievery in the last two or three years. 

The population of this town is about two 
hundred and fifty. There is no public well or any 
other well in the village. The people carry water 
for cooking and drinking purposes from a river 
nearly a mile away. A Sunday-school is main- 
tained here on the veranda of the evangelist's 
house. Ten boys go to a government school 
about two miles away. There is a man who has 
read as far as the fourth grade. All the rest of 
the population is illiterate. 

The people all sat on the ground, except 
three Brahman brothers. They sat on a small 

[208] 



BILASPUR 



bench, and being high caste, the rest of the 
crowd thought it was entirely proper for them 
to do so. As I took down some notes of the 
meeting, one of these Brahmans almost broke 
up the meeting by examining my fountain pen. 
He could not understand how I could write with- 
out dipping it in ink. 

We arrived at our camp near sundown. 
While the cook was getting our evening meal 
ready, I did some work around the tent, wrote 
up my notes, and a letter or two. It became dusk 
and I missed Mr. Moody. The cook told me he 
had gone to the nearby village. I sauntered up 
the dusty road, and came into the edge of town. 
I heard talking up "main street," and soon a 
strange sight met my eyes. 

There was Moody sitting right in the middle 
of the street on a little low bed which they had 
brought out for him. Around him was a crowd 
of one hundred or more people. A little fire of 
grass and straw was burning, replenished from 
time to time by an old man, who seemed to have 
appointed himself for the occasion. Moody was 
telling them the gospel story, and explaining the 
benefits of Christianity, and the difference be- 
tween our pure Christ, and the idols which they 
worship. 

As the fire flashed up and lit their brown 
faces, long shadows stretched out into the outer 
darkness. It seemed typical of the darkness in 
which these people have lived for generations. 
What matter if our supper did get cold? Here 

[209] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

were folks who were getting the story for the 
first time perhaps. A village woman called 
aloud to her son. He answered in a loud voice 
from the crowd. They hushed him up, hustled 
him out, and the meeting proceeded. 

As I lay down upon my cot that night, it was 
with a new hope for India. The Kingdom is com- 
ing in India. To be sure, it is coming slowly, 
but it is coming. How much faster it might 
come, if all of us were as devoted as some of 
these simple-minded Christians who have just 
found the light. 



Our meeting in the village of Amora was 
held soon after sunrise. It was held as usual on 
the veranda of the evangelist's house, there be- 
ing no church building here. About thirty people 
were present and as many more were spectators 
from afar. Three old Hindu women sat on their 
haunches across the road on a high piece of 
ground and took keen interest. A considerable 
crowd sat at a distance, but close enough to ob- 
serve and hear. 

One of the village Christians read the Scrip- 
ture lesson. The Malgazar was present. When 
he saw the man read from the Bible, in a clear 
voice unafraid, his face was a study. These 
owners of the Indian villages seem to think that 
the only use for the average villager is to pay 
him excessive interest on debts, and obey all his 
commands without protest. Many of them op- 

[210] 



BILASPUR 



pose Christianity because they think the people 
will become educated and thus get out from under 
their control. 

As the meeting proceeded, people passed 
with waterpots on their heads, going to the 
river for water. Many passed also with their 
hand-made wooden tooth brushes, going to the 
river to bathe and to brush their teeth. They 
break off a piece of wood about the size of a 
lead pencil, cut and tear one end so that it has 
some semblance to a brush. When one brush is 
worn out, it costs them nothing to get another. 
Our Indian cousins can teach America a good 
many points on keeping down the high cost of 
living. 

The evangelist preached a short sermon, 
then the offering was made. Every Christian 
present made an offering. On the veranda, Sun- 
day-school is held every Sunday, with an aver- 
age attendance of about twenty-five. They also 
observe the weekly communion service. 

A number of problems showed up here. One 
was in connection with a young man who is a 
Christian. His wife recently left him, and says 
she will not return and live with a Christian. 
He says that his relatives urge him every day to 
go back into caste. Recently the Malgazar, 
thinking that the time had come to get the man 
to renounce Christianity, offered him thirty 
rupees worth of rice with which to plant his 
fields, if he would go back into caste. When he 
refused, the Malgazar beat him, and the man did 

[211] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

not dare to fight back. To do so would mean 
that the police would take the word of the Mal- 
gazar, and he would have been arrested for as- 
sault and battery, and very likely severely 
punished. Because of this situation, many of 
the Christians will bear a beating patiently, 
knowing that to resist means much more trouble. 

Another problem came up in connection 
with this man in regard to the marriage of 
his younger brothers. Since he is the oldest the 
brothers must look to him to help make the 
arrangements. None of the families in the 
village will consider marrying their daughters 
to Christians. The boys are not old enough to 
worry about being married, but the idea centuries 
old in India regarding early marriage arrange- 
ments is not easily forgotten by the new Chris- 
tians. So when the Hindu relatives come and 
say to this young man: 

"You are to blame for your brothers not get- 
ting good wives," it makes it hard for him to 
withstand them. 

The man, however, says he will not go back 
into caste if they kill him. It is a hard fight he 
is putting up, and many a Christian in America 
would fall under temptations not half so great. 
This is an indication of what kind of problems 
the busy missionary is dealing with every day. 
They may seem trivial to us, but they are not so 
to a man whose back is bleeding from the 
brutality of a non-Christian religious fanatic. 
It tries the soul of the missionary many a. time 

[212] 



BILASPUR 



to know what is the wise procedure in these 
difficulty cases. 



After the meeting we made a trip around 
town to see the sights. One of the most interest- 
ing was a visit to see a potter at work. He was 
busy with his big wheel and his mud. On this 
wheel he fashioned waterpots, vases, etc., in 
rapid succession. He makes the wheel himself, 
gets the mud and water free, uses his hands to 
do the work, so that all he makes is clear profit. 

Prom there we went to call upon the two 
richest men in town. They received us cordially. 
They showed us their houses, large rooms with 
dirt floors, and the place where they do their 
cooking on little stoves made of brick and mud. 
A stove like that costs nothing. These men are 
the only ones in the village who have any large 
supply of grain stored away. They showed us 
the big bins made especially for that purpose. 
They do not have outside granaries. These large 
bins are made of mud and plaster, built up off 
the ground a couple of feet to keep out the white 
ants. They are sealed at the top when full. A 
guard sleeps at the door of this house every 
night. 

When the planting season comes, practic- 
ally the whole village comes to rent grain for 
their fields. They must pay back about fifty per 
cent. That is, if a man gets a bushel, he must 
pay back a bushel and a half. It makes the 

[213] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

holder of the grain practically dictator of the 
affairs of the village. 

As we went to the home of the Malgazar, a 
crowd of about twenty followed us. It was 
no breach of Indian etiquette for this crowd to 
stand in the open court yard and watch us as 
we conversed on the open veranda. When we 
left and went to the government school, the 
crowd increased to thirty or forty. At the school 
we found two classes meeting on the veranda. I 
asked the boys to do some problems in arith- 
metic, and they did not seem at all embarrassed 
because a crowd of villagers were looking on. In 
this village there are two hundred and eighteen 
children of school age, only one hundred and 
thirty-five are in school, and fifty of these come 
from other villages. However, this is a very 
high average for India, as thousands of the 
villages have no school of any kind. 

The teachers, with the exception of the head 
master, have read only through the fourth grade. 
Yet they are called masters, and have the train- 
ing of the Indian boys and girls in their charge. 
At first only high caste boys could come to the 
school, but the government has urged the masters 
to get all castes into school if possible. To do 
so, they have even offered a small reward to 
masters who get all castes into the regular 
classes. This reward runs from twenty-five to 
seventy-five rupees per year. That kind of 
urgency goes farther in India than any other. 
It was refreshing therefore to have the Brah- 

[214] 



BI LAS PUR 



man head master tell me with a good deal of 
pride that he had seven or eight different castes 
in his school. He called off the different castes 
and had the children from each one stand as he 
did so. 



On our return trip to Bilaspur we visited 
several other villages, held services, preached 
to the people, and encouraged those who are al- 
ready Christians. Our buffalo cart broke down 
one night two miles out of town, with our tent 
and baggage. We had to go out and camp there 
for the night on the open plains. But we were 
not lonesome for the jackals sang us a number 
of their evening songs. 

As our bicycle and horse carried us back 
into Bilaspur, after several days in the small 
villages, I thanked God for the start that had 
already been made among those poor people. 
For say what you will, the Christian as little as 
he knows to begin with, has a hope and an out- 
look on life here and now, that his Indian fellows 
do not have. And I had a new appreciation of 
the missionary, and the heart and courage and 
zeal with which he tackles the most difficult 
problem in the world. 

His work is slow, but it is sure, for back of 
the "shadows" is God "keeping watch," and at 
his side is the Unseen Friend who is keeping 
his promise, "Lo, I am with you always." 

[215] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

6 

Mr. Moody has about ten well trained 
Indian evangelists as his helpers. The Biiaspur 
church has as its pastor a fine spiritual leader 
who is increasing in wisdom and usefulness. 
Ten Sunday-schools are conducted in and around 
Biiaspur. The average attendance for all of 
these Sunday-schools for the month of January 
was one thousand and thirty-fiv^e. 

The church building is one of the best we 
have in India. It is Of brick and cement with a 
seating capacity of about five hundred. A Sun- 
day afternoon service in this beautiful church is 
an extraordinary sight. Both the American flag 
and a big Union Jack hang above the platform. 
The platform was decorated with flowers and 
palms. The communion table just in front, with 
spotless white linen, made a fine contrast. 

In the right wing sat the girls from the 
primary department of the boarding school. In 
the left wing, the beginners in their clean 
colored dresses. The entire left side of the church 
was filled with the larger girls from the board- 
ing school in the upper primary, the middle, 
English, and normal schools. On the right side 
were the men and boys. A number of Hindus 
were also present. The Indian pastor was in 
charge of the service, Dr. Jenny Crozier leading 
the singing. 

The special Thanksgiving offering was 
taken consisting as usual of money, eggs, 
chickens and grain. Some of the men, as they 

[216] 



BILASPUR 

put down their money on the table, salaamed to 
it, a custom carried over from a heathen practice 
when making gifts. It took twelve minutes to 
make the offering and the total was rupees two 
hundred and sixty-five, two annas, nine pice. 



At the invitation song three men came for- 
ward to make the confession. They came from a 
far village which we had visited a few days be- 
fore. They stood before that large audience and 
boldly confessed their belief in Christ. Moody 
charged them never to go back into caste, and 
never to give up Christ. He impressed upon 
them the fact that it was no small thing to come 
out thus publicly and take their stand for Chris- 
tianity. 

The baptistry is a large cement tank on the 
outside of the church. These men were ready 
to be baptized at the same hour. Standing beside 
that baptistry, with a great crowd looking on, 
these men bowed their heads while Moody took 
his scissors and cut off the tuft of hair from the 
top of their heads. To cut off that chota means 
that they break with Hinduism. He also cut off 
the string of beads from around their necks and 
gave them to me as souvenirs. The cutting off 
of these beads indicates their willingness to 
break caste. Then they were baptized. 

To take this stand required as much courage 
as it did for our boys to go "over the top" in 

[217] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

France. For they broke with everything that 
life holds dear; they broke with their religion; 
with their caste; with their neighbors; with 
their families; with the social order; with the 
Malgazar, who is almost the economic slave 
master of the people. That night they walked 
the long journey back to their homes. 

The next afternoon found one of these men 
back at Bilaspur, his shoulders and back bruised 
from the severe beating administered by the 
Malgazar. The Malgazar had called him early on 
Monday morning, and when the man acknowl- 
edged that he had become a Christian, the Mal- 
gazar flew into a rage, beat him and threatened 
to kill him. He had walked the long distance 
back to Bilaspur to ask the Sahib what he should 
do. Moody got on his motorcycle, went to see 
the Malgazar, had a long conference with him, 
told him the man would be a better citizen than 
he was before, that he would pay his taxes, obey 
the law, and cause no trouble. Finally the Mal- 
gazar consented that he would give the man no 
further trouble. 

These are some of the difficulties which the 
new Indian Christians face and which the mis- 
sionaries must face with them. It is not always 
an easy thing for a missionary to urge a man to 
publicly confess Christ on one day, when he is 
practically sure that the next day the new con- 
vert will be severely beaten for taking the stand. 
Many of these men most certainly understand 
what it means to "suffer persecution." 

[218] 



BILASPUR 



BURGESS MEMORIAL GIRLS' SCHOOL 



I saw no better school during my five 
months in India than the Burgess Memorial. 
Miss Emma J. Ennis doubles the eight hour day 
in order to properly look after the two hundred 
and sixty or more girls in attendance. There are 
two hundred and eighteen girls in boarding at 
the dormitory. There is a primary school of one 
hundred and eighty-four. There is an Anglo- 
Vernacular school with an attendance of sixty, 
and there is a normal school with an attendance 
of twenty. 

This is the only normal school for girls in 
the Chatisgarh-Bilaspur-Mungeli district. There 
are girls in attendance from several other Mis- 
sions in Central Provinces. The normal school 
is well-organized, kept up to government stand- 
ard in every respect, and all of the Indian 
teachers have had special training for this 
particular work. 

The plot of ground upon which the school 
is located contains about six acres. The bunga- 
low for the missionaries is located upon this 
plot, and the Bilaspur church occupies one cor- 
ner. For the present the primary and normal 
schools are located in the town, several blocks 
away. The present buildings are inadequate to 
house all the schools. However, plans are under 
way for the erection of the new Burgess Me- 

[219] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

morial which will accommodate about five hun- 
dred girls. This building when completed will be 
one of the best of its kind in all the Central 
Provinces, having fine class rooms on the ground 
floor, with dormitories and teachers' rooms 
occupying the second floor. 

The question as to what to do with the girls 
when they are ready for high school is a prob- 
lem. The mission can hardly afford to main- 
tain a high school for just a few girls. The 
large majority of the girls of India never get be- 
yond the primary grades. That girl is lucky in- 
deed who is able to finish the upper primary and 
the middle school. It is extraordinary if she 
ever finishes high school. There are a good 
many high schools for boys in Central Provinces, 
but there are perhaps not more than twenty-five 
girls in all the mission schools of that whole 
area who are ready for high school. It is en- 
tirely proper, therefore, that these missions 
should be considering the advisability of main- 
taining one good union high school for girls, 
rather than trying to support a half dozen such 
schools by the separate missions. Our mission 
most certainly would and should join in such a 
union enterprise. 

Miss Ennis is an apostle of orderliness, 
cleanliness, and thoroughness. She not only 
sees to it that the teachers are well qualified and 
are thorough in their school room instruction, 
but she also sees to it that the girls take their 
baths every day, brush their teeth, keep their 
[220] 



BILASPUR 



rooms clean, and that the cooks properly pre- 
pare and cook their food. 

What a hungry lot of girls they were as they 
sat down in long rows to eat their simple meal. 
The waiters heaped their brass plates full of 
well-cooked rice and steaming hot curry and 
these girls ate with their fingers and chatted 
among themselves as school girls do at home. 
When the meal was over, what clatter and din 
they made as they rushed out to the big cement 
tanks to wash their own plates and put them 
away for the next meal. It takes two tons of rice 
per month to supply this female family larder. 



The following rules may be interesting to 
the lady readers of this volume. Gentlemen 
may omit. 

1. Each boarder will be expected to bring 
the following: 

1 tin trunk with a lock and key. 



1 thali. 


4 skirts. 


1 glass. 


3 saris (one white.) 


1 small bag. 


4 pajamas. 


1 Bible. 


3 chemise. 


1 Hymn book. 


2 night dresses. 


4 jackets. 





Little girls may bring jackets instead of dresses, 
skirts and saris. 

2. Students must not lend clothes to fellow 
students. 

[221] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

3. Every article of clothing must bear the 
owner's name. 

4. Each student will write a letter home 
once in two weeks. 

5. Lamps and lanterns may not be re- 
moved from the places where they 
hang. 

6. Every girl must attend morning and 
evening prayers. 

7. Beds must be placed in the sun every 
day. 

8. One hour of daily household duties 
shall be required of each student. 

9. For every article of clothing found in 
the bath room, a fine of two pice will 
be imposed. 

10. No girl will be allowed to wear or to 
keep expensive ornaments in the 
school. 

11. Only parents, guardians and persons 
bearing the written authority of such, 
will be allowed to visit the girls. 

12. Training will be given in English and 
Indian etiquette. 

13. Perfect silence is required after the re- 
tiring bell at 9 : 00 P. M. 

3 

What a happy, jolly crowd they were at play 
time in the evening when they swarmed out in 
the great front yard and scampered about under 
those beautiful trees. How surprised and 

[222] 



BILASPUR 



abashed they were when the new Sahib came out 
to play with them. A new Sahib playing with 
the girls and hastily climbing trees when they 
chased him? What a scandal! It has not been 
done in India since the world began! Yet when 
I told them, through an interpreter, how I played 
with my own girls in America and romped with 
them in the yard, it wasn't five minutes until 
they were as much at ease as if I had been their 
own father. 

These Indian teachers and girls know how 
to give an evening's entertainment that would do 
credit to an amateur stock company. The little 
program they put on in the school room one 
evening was a howling success from start to 
finish. Nobody went to sleep during that per- 
formance. It was vaudeville and burlesque, and 
serio-comic and tragedy and dramatics all mixed 
together, and after every performance the girls 
cheered and laughed with hearty glee, and then 
watched with breathless expectation for the next 
number to appear. 

The spirit of the war and the lyrics of the 
war had penetrated to the very heart of India. 
"Pack up your troubles" and "Johnny Get Your 
Gun" were somewhat tame to some of the songs 
which these girls got off. One was entitled — 

"The Kaiser's Nightmare," 
and the first verse was as follows: 

I'm called the crazy Kaiser 

In the East and in the West. 

To break the peace of Europe 

I did my level best. [223] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

I possessed a mighty navy 
Which should have swept the seas, 
But they have met the British fleet 
Mine Gott! Where are they now? 

Another number was entitled "The Clipping 
of the Kaiser's Moustache." A girl marched in 
with a cap on like the Kaiser's and with a turned- 
up moustache, but she had added to the make-up, 
some long brown whiskers. She had a pillow 
under her belt, showing that in their conception 
of the Kaiser he was a squatty-looking man. A 
group then sang the following song to the tune 
of "Tom Brown's Baby Had a Cold Upon It's 
Chest." 

Kaiser William had a wonderful moustache 

Kaiser William had a wonderful moustache 

Kaiser William had a wonderful moustache 

We went and clipped it off. 

Chorus : 

India, Canada, and Australia, 

Italy, Belgium, America, 

France and England all did march along 

And cut his whiskers off. 

A little girl stood beside the made-up Kaiser 
and at the end of each verse and the chorus, 
gave his whiskers a jerk and twist. 



And will I ever forget that sunset scene at 
Burgess Memorial? The girls sitting in long 
rows upon the grass. The sun sinking, with its 

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BILASPUR 



golden glow, into the West. Not a breeze 
blowing. In that quiet out-of-doors amphi- 
theatre, these girls, not yet one generation re- 
moved from paganism, gave an evening con- 
cert. A special chorus sang two or three beauti- 
ful selections, and then the whole group sang 
some of the great Christian hymns. 

The week before I had seen the poverty, the 
ignorance, the dirt and squalor in the far vil- 
lages, in which thousands of boys and girls were 
growing up, with never an opportunity for 
educational advantage. No schools, no books, 
no daily papers, nothing but mud houses, dirty 
streets, their idolatry, and hard work. The 
women and girls, like mere chattel slaves, 
doomed forever to a place of inferiority. 

But here at Bilaspur was a contrast. Girls 
being educated, dressed in their modest clean 
clothes. Girls being taught Christianity who no 
longer bow down to idols of wood and stone. 
Girls being lifted above the sordid slavery which 
has oppressed them for generations. Girls really 
being educated up to the place where they can 
stand side by side with the best men of their 
race and be counted as their equals. In short, 
girls at last having their chance, and having 
their chance because Miss Ennis, and others with 
like devotion are with rare tact and persever- 
ance and consecration paying the price for the 
up-lift and the advancement and liberation of 
their brown sisters of Hindustan. 



[225] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 



DR. JENNY'S WORKSHOP 

The Mission hospital at Bilaspur is like a 
city set on a hill. It is a woman's hospital and 
Dr. Jenny Crozier has visions of multiplying 
its influence and power. The next such hospital, 
traveling south, is one hundred and twenty miles 
away; west, two hundred and fifty miles; north, 
two hundred and fifty miles; and traveling east, 
there is no other before reaching Calcutta. There 
is a government hospital in Bilaspur and a few 
government hospitals in that area. However, 
these hospitals are usually under the manage- 
ment of Indian doctors and it is not unfair to 
say that as a whole their work cannot compare 
with that of the American trained physician. 

The present staff consists of Dr. Crozier and 
an assistant surgeon, a fine Indian girl who took 
special training and who received a certificate 
as "sub-assistant surgeon." There are two com- 
pounders for the drug room. One fully trained 
nurse, another who has nearly completed her 
course, with four others in training as nurses 
and "dressers." 

While this is a woman's hospital, men pa- 
tients are treated at the dispensary though not 
received as in-patients. The report for the pre- 
ceding year showed three hundred and sixty-five 
in-patients; two hundred and twenty-five opera- 
tions; two thousand five hundred and seven 
male patients at the dispensary; two thousand 
and eighty- four female patients; a total of five 
[226] 



BILASPUR 



thousand four hundred and ninety-one, no per- 
son being counted twice. 

The grounds are beautifully laid out, con- 
taining about ten acres. At one end is the 
doctor's bungalow. Not far away are the private 
wards for those who desire to do their own cook- 
ing when they have to stay for several weeks. 
At the other end of the grounds near the street, 
is the dispensary and hospital building, and not 
far from this is the main ward where from thirty 
to fifty patients may be accommodated. Then 
there are buildings for the nurses and assistants. 
There are fine big trees all over the yard. 

The patients in these Indian hospitals are 
always an interesting study. Besides the com- 
mon, ordinary cases which drift into every hos- 
pital, there are always special cases of more than 
ordinary interest. In one of the private wards 
was a purdah woman whose husband had 
brought her seventy miles for treatment. She 
had been there five days and was very much 
better. I asked the man why he had come that 
long distance. 

He said, "I heard that Miss Doctor Sahib 
had very fine medicine and I thought she could 
heal my wife." This is only one of many similar 
cases where people hear of the good work of the 
medical missionaries and travel long distances 
for treatment. I asked for permission to take a 
photograph of himself and his wife to show the 
people at home. I told him that people would be 
interested to see the photograph of a man and 

[227] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

woman who had traveled seventy miles for 
medical treatment. Great was Dr. Crozier's sur- 
prise when the man agreed. He stood by her 
little bed and allowed her to remove the purdah 
veil while the photograph was being taken. 

It is not infrequent for some Rajah, or 
well-to-do Indian to send for the Doctor to make 
a long journey to treat some member of the 
family. In such cases these well-to-do folk pay 
a large fee for the attention given them. 

Dr. Crozier feels that there should be a reg- 
ular nurses' training school at Bilaspur to sup- 
ply nurses for our work. The hospital could well 
be repaired and enlarged, and with a better plant 
its influence and good name could be greatly in- 
creased. 

(Note: A good friend has recently made a 
pledge of twenty-five thousand dollars for the 
erection of a Nurses' Training School and the 
enlargement and equipment of the hospital.) 

MAMMA JI KINGSBURY 

It is a great record to have spent thirty-nine 
years as a missionary, thirty-seven of those years 
in the same station. It is the high record of 
missionaries among Disciples of Christ. There 
may be some in other churches who have a 
longer record, but there are very, very few. 

Mary Kingsbury has seen our work grow 
from its very beginning. She was with G. L. 
Wharton in the beginning of the work at Harda. 
Bilaspur was the second station, Mungeli the 

[228] 



BILASPUR 



third, and Damon was the fourth. Then others 
were opened as the church at home saw the 
vision, and sent the men and the money. Now 
there are thirteen stations, and a wonderful work 
is being done along educational, industrial, 
zenana, medical and evangelistic lines. Further- 
more, she has seen the work open in China, 
Japan, Africa, Philippine Islands, Tibet, Mexico 
and Latin America. 

Her long period of service in Bilaspur has 
given her a host of friends in the church, among 
the Hindus, and among the English officials. 
People come to her for advice on all kinds of 
questions. What would she do about a certain 
law-suit? And should this cloth merchant give 
up business and go out and take control of a 
village? How can this man get along better in 
business? Another is poor, and being oppressed. 
Would the Miss Sahib please listen to his troubles 
and tell him what to do? Imagine the tales of 
woe she has listened to through thirty-nine 
years. 

Miss Kingsbury helped to organize the first 
Sunday-school in Bilaspur. She also organized 
the Girls' School and the Orphanage which has 
done such a great work for the helpless children 
of Bilaspur and vicinity. She has never turned 
an orphan child away in all the years she has 
been in India. She laid the foundations, and for 
many years was the manager of the great school 
and orphanage now known as the Burgess Me- 
morial School. 

[229] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

Since her last furlough it was necessary for 
a younger woman to take charge of the heavy 
responsibility of school and orphanage, so she 
has been assigned to do zenana work. She is 
therefore, a missionary to the women who are 
"behind the veil." They call them "purdah" 
women. Their husbands will not allow them to 
go out without a veil over their faces. If they go 
to the hospital, they go in a closed cart, and the 
doctor must receive them in the purdah room. 
All other hospitals are equipped with such a 
room. It is easy to imagine the good cheer and 
the touch from the outside world that she brings 
to these slaves of the Indian social order. Their 
minds and hearts are veiled the same as their 
faces. Most of them cannot read and write. One 
of Bilaspur's most educated and advanced 
citizens has a wife whom Miss Kingsbury has 
taught to read and write. The men now 'often 
invite her to go into their homes and teach their 
women folks. She always explains that if she 
goes she will teach them the Bible, but no objec- 
tion has ever been offered to that. 

Often as she goes into these homes, the 
word passes quickly from one house to another, 
and she will have an audience of from six to ten 
women listening to her kindly talk and her 
stories of Jesus, who came to save women as 
well as men. 

The reader must not imagine that she does 
all this work herself, or alone. She is truly 
apostolic, in that she believes that she must 

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BILASPUR 



multiply herself through the work of others. 
Hence, she has under her guidance, training and 
direction, a force of ten Bible women. Three of 
these live in Bilaspur, and seven live in the vill- 
ages round about. They spend about five hours 
a day at this work. They go two by two into the 
villages, get the children together, teach them 
songs and Bible stories in the mornings. Then 
they go to visit the women in their homes, in 
the afternoons. In this way hundreds of women 
are reached with the gospel message, who would 
never hear it from the men. In India, it takes 
women to reach women. 

I was introduced to Miss Kingsbury's ox- 
cart, and her gari-wala — the driver of the oxen. 
There was a mission school four miles in the 
country, and she and one of her helpers felt 
that I should see it. She keeps an ox-cart in- 
stead of a horse-cart, because she feels that it 
is more suitable and more reliable. The oxen 
can go over roads that are impossible for the 
horse, so one day I climbed aboard the bail- 
garu The gari-wala seated astride of the 
tongue, cranked up the tails of the oxen and we 
were off. Miss Kingsbury thought we would 
make four miles in forty-five minutes, but we 
finally anchored alongside of the school in an 
hour and ten minutes. 

The Indian head-master had misunderstood 
the announcement that we were to be there that 
day, and had dismissed the school on account 
of it being one of the many Hindu holidays, but 

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IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

when he saw that the Miss Sahib, along with the 
new Sahib had honored him by making a visit 
to his school, he sent messengers scurrying 
around the village and soon had about two- 
thirds of his pupils rounded up, and seated on 
the floor in the school room. They gave a pro- 
gram and demonstrated some of the work that is 
being done. The head-master is a Christian 
man and is doing everything he can, not only to 
teach the children the regular prescribed govern- 
ment course, but also to teach them the 
principles of the Christian religion. Miss Kings- 
bury has helped to organize and supervise a 
number of such schools in the villages around 
Bilaspur. 

Through many years, Miss Kingsbury has 
conducted a good sized matrimonial bureau. Let 
the reader remember that in India no boy or girl 
makes his own marriage arrangements. That is 
always done by the parents or other relatives. 
Marriage arrangements are made for tens of 
thousands of boys and girls before they are ten 
years of age. Hence, it has been entirely in 
keeping with Indian custom for Mamma Ji 
Kingsbury to make arrangements for the mar- 
riage of her girls. 

Since many of them were Christians, she 
planned of course to marry them to Christian 
men. It worked out about like this: A man 
would send her word that he wished a wife. She 
would look up his record, and if it was satis- 



[232] 



BILASPUR 



factory and he had the ability to support a wife, 
she would ask him to call. She would then pick 
out some girl whom she thought would make a 
suitable wife for the man. She would arrange 
a meeting between them on her front veranda, 
she always being present. After a conversation 
of twenty to thirty minutes Miss Kingsbury and 
the girl would retire for consulation. If they 
were pleased with each other that settled the 
matter and arrangements would be made for the 
marriage. 

Miss Kingsbury has arranged over a hun- 
dred marriages, and she says that most of them 
have turned out well. She could give the "marry- 
ing parsons" a good many fine points about the 
business. Her biggest job along this line was 
that time when another missionary arrived one 
day with fourteen young men from Damoh. 
Damoh specializes on boys, Bilaspur on girls. It 
took two days to arrange all the meetings for the 
fourteen couples. With several it was a case of 
love at first sight. When all the arrangements 
were made, the fourteen couples marched over 
to the church, where the ceremony was per- 
formed. One of the pastors of one of our largest 
Indian churches was married in that group. He 
is to be ordained during the coming year. 

The confidence, faith, devotion and respect 
which the Indian people have in Mary Kings- 
bury is summed up in the statement of the man 
who bade her welcome to Bilaspur thirty-seven 



[233] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

years ago. While he is still a Hindu, he has be- 
friended her and the mission in many ways. One 
day he said to me : 

"Miss Kingsbury is the most unselfish per- 
son I have ever met. She loves India, and India 
loves her. She is welcome in any home, rich or 
poor, high caste or low caste." 



[234] 



CHAPTER XIII 



MUNGELI 



CHAPTER XIII 

MUNGELI 

EVANGELISM WITH ITS BOOTS ON 

THE EVOLUTION OF FOSTERPUR 

1 

The story of the growth and development 
of Fosterpur reads almost like a romance. It 
also reads like a chapter from the Acts of the 
Apostles. 

In February, 1917, at Set Ganga, a village 
about nine miles west of Mungeli, there was 
held a meeting of the leaders of the Chungia 
Chamars to consider the advisability of the 
whole caste becoming Christians. Never before 
had such a meeting been held in that section of 
the country with such a purpose in view. Nothing 
definite came of this but it left an open door for 
later development. 

In December, 1917, M. J. Shah, a well trained 
and devoted Indian preacher was moved from 
Harda with the special object of opening up and 
establishing the work in that section west of 
Mungeli. 

In March, 1918, ten acres of ground were 
bought for a new out-station. There was some 
opposition to our buying the land. This was 
finally overcome by loaning the village pro- 

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IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

prietors rupees two thousand on mortgage, and 
buying the land of them. In early May of 1918, 
the foundation was begun for a small temporary 
home for Mr. Shah. At the same time the per- 
sonal work and the preaching to the people 
nearby was carried on. In the latter part of 
May of that same year, a chamar, a noted char- 
acter, made a public confession of Christ and was 
baptized, the first fruits of the Kingdom in that 
section. A little later three others from this 
section heard the gospel while taking treatment 
in the Mungeli hospital and became Christians. 

2 

The work increased and grew. In Septem- 
ber, 1918, two more men with their wives who 
lived near Fosterpur, accepted Christianity, 
and two others living at Piparkhuta became 
Christians, and before the end of September their 
wives had followed in their footsteps. 

Still others followed and by the end of De- 
cember, 1918, twenty had been baptized from the 
villages around Fosterpur. Thus the founda- 
tions for the buildings and the foundations of 
the Kingdom were being laid at the same time. 

During the year 1919, most of the building 
work was completed. This was supervised 
jointly by Mr. Saum and Mr. Shah. A mud 
school building was erected and a school opened 
in January, 1919. A nice neat double house (not 
a St. Louis flat) was erected for the home of the 
master of the school and the assistant evan- 
gelist. The permanent home of Mr. Shah was 

[238] 



MUNGELI 



also erected. The walls are of stone, most of 
which came out of our own land. It has a tile 
roof. It is built in Indian style and is a neat, 
commodious, yet unpretentious home. One room 
is kept for the use of the missionaries as they 
travel in that area in supervising the work. 

In July, 1919, the little congregation was 
formally organized on the veranda of Mr. Shah's 
home. Since then regular services and Sunday- 
school have been held, pending the erection of 
the church building. The Christians live in nine 
different villages and by the end of December, 
1919, there were forty-seven Christians living in 
these different villages. 



Another phase of the evolution of Fosterpur 
was in the heart of a man named Foster, who 
lives in Missouri. He began the support of a 
missionary in India. His vision and liberality 
increased as he came to know the needs and op- 
portunity there. So the money for both the land 
and the building was the gift of Mr. Foster, and 
the new out-station was named Fosterpur in his 
honor. Thus it will be seen that the develop- 
ment of the work on the foreign fields keeps 
pace with the vision and consecration of the 
church at home. 

During the year 1919 there was a famine in 
that area and the workers at Fosterpur gave 
valuable assistance to the people in need. A 
number of children were cared for and the mis- 

[239] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

sion supervised a government famine-relief 
station at Set Ganga. 

The following facts indicate the situation 
at Fosterpur at the beginning of the year 1920. 
Twenty-two families are represented among the 
Christians living in nine different villages. The 
number of children in these families is thirty- 
five. The number of school pupils enrolled is 
forty-two. The number of farmers among the 
converts is twelve, and they own about seventy 
acres of land. The average being a little less 
than six acres which is more than the average 
for all India. A number of the Christians have 
been taught to read and write so that permanent 
progress is being made. Mr. Shah and his helpers, 
along with his wife who directs the woman's 
work, now visit forty different villages where 
they teach and preach regularly. 

At the time of my visit there were several 
fine patches of wheat on the ten acre farm. One 
patch was beardless wheat which the govern- 
ment had requested the mission to introduce. 
The Indian farmers nearby are being asked to 
introduce this better variety of wheat, as it will 
yield considerably more to the acre. 

4 

A crowd of about one hundred gathered 
around Mr. Shah's veranda for the program and 
Thanksgiving offering. Before the program had 
finished the crowd had increased to at least two 
hundred. People brought money and grain as 
their offerings. One man carried over a bushel 

[240] 



MUNGELI 



of grain nearly nine miles. This was carried in 
two large baskets, one at each end of a bamboo 
pole over his shoulder. A widow who had re- 
cently been baptized sent her son a distance of 
eight miles with her offering of more than a gal- 
lon of grain. The school children each made an 
offering. 

Mr. Shah gave an interesting account of how 
the people are learning to give to help support 
their new religion. A little earthen jar has been 
put in practically every Christian home, and the 
women are asked to put one handful of grain in 
this jar every time they prepare a meal. It is 
called "the jar of religion." By that method, in 
one month the women gave rupees one, three 
annas, two pice worth of grain. 

When the Christians had finished their of- 
ferings, Mr. Shah made a statement to the Hin- 
dus present. He told of the work in the com- 
munity and what the money and grain would be 
used for. He also told what the school, the 
farm, and the medicines were doing for the up- 
lift of the people. He said that all of it had 
been done and the offerings given, in the name 
of Christ, to bring relief and help to the people, 
and told the Hindus that their offerings were 
not solicited, but would be gladly accepted and 
used with the oth^r offerings if they desired to 
give. 

Then a strange and unheard of thing oc- 
curred. At least fifty Hindus marched up to the 
table and made gifts. Two or three of them were 

[241] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

Malgazars. The Christians were amazed that 
the Hindus gave so freely. 

Three things are major factors in the 
evolution of Fosterpur; money, prayer and life. 
The beginnings of the enterprise have been 
eminently successful. Only the One who knows 
all things can foresee the ultimate results. The 
success of this new work is most certainly a 
prophecy of what might be done in many fields 
if the workers and their support were available. 

BY OX-CART TO PIPARKHUTA 

Piparkhuta is a village about seventeen 
miles west of Mungeli, eight miles beyond 
Fosterpur. We made the trip to Fosterpur in a 
buggy. There are five Christian families at 
Piparkhuta and Mr. Saum felt that they would 
be greatly disappointed if we did not visit them 
while in that section of the country. When we 
were ready to start for Piparkhuta we piled into 
the ox-cart and started on the long dusty road at 
the rate of about three miles an hour. After more 
than two hours of dusty travelling we came to a 
road leading out across the fields. Here a man 
met us who had come out two miles on foot to 
bid us welcome to his home and to the vil- 
lage. A few minutes later we came to the river. 
The oxen were unhitched and allowed to graze, 
and the man carried Mr. Saum and me across 
the river on his back. 

A little further on a young man came out to 
meet us, and by the time we were at the edge of 

[242] 



MUNGELI 



the town several other persons met us and es- 
corted us back into the village. These Chris- 
tians are the relatives of Bickram, one of the 
hospital assistants in Mungeli. It was through 
his influence that they became Christians. He 
had gone out the day before to talk to other 
friends and relatives about becoming Christians. 
We sat down in a little mud house and had 
a conference with the Christians. Other people 
came in and listened to the conversation. There 
are many problems in connection with the work 
in a village of this kind. The Christians are 
often perplexed as to what is the wise thing to 
do, and as soon as a missionary arrives they con- 
front him with many intricate and complex 
problems which are at times very difficult to 
solve. One such problem was in connection with 
a girl about eleven years of age. She had been 
promised in marriage to a man of another vil- 
lage. Now her father was a Christian. If the 
girl goes to school in Mungeli she will become 
better educated than the man, become a Chris- 
tian, and will not be satisfied with the man and 
his ideals when he comes to demand her in mar- 
riage. What should the father do in this case? 
When the engagement took place the boy's 
father had given to the girl's father twenty-five 
rupees to bind the contract. The girl was only 
four years of age when this transaction took 
place. To get her released would now cost her 
father forty or fifty rupees and he did not have 
the money to pay. Problem number one: As 

[243] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

a Christian man what should he do? Problem 
number two: As an adviser of his converts, 
what could a missionary say to help him out of 
his difficulty? 

Another problem was this : One of the men 
has six acres of ground. He mortgaged it dur- 
ing the famine for forty rupees. If he doesn't 
pay the government tax for three years he loses 
the land, and it goes to the Malgazar, who will 
pay the tax. The man has two dependents and he 
is now a Christian. The land is worth about 
twenty rupees per acre, or a total of one hundred 
and twenty rupees, but it is so tied up that he 
cannot sell it. He has no oxen, he has no plow, 
and he has no grain, and he is not in position to 
pay the forty rupees which he borrowed. Neither 
does he want to lose what money he has invested 
in the land. The problem is, what shall the mis- 
sionary advise this man to do? 

It is not enough to say, "Let the mission ad- 
vance the money and pay the man's debt." That 
would be easy enough if there were but one man 
to deal with, but there are so many men with so 
many different problems that it is impossible 
for the mission to finance them in their times 
of difficulty. On the other hand, the problem of 
establishing and maintaining a little church in 
that village, and in many other villages, is de- 
pendent upon the solution of the economic prob- 
lems of the Christians located there. 



[244] 



MUNGELI 



AMONG THIEVES AT KESARUADIH 
A very interesting work is being carried on 
among the people of the thieving caste at 
Kesaruadih. Practically all of the people who 
live here in a village of about twenty houses be- 
long to the thieving caste. Many of them were 
religiously working at the job. They were not 
only thieves themselves, but taught their chil- 
dren to steal. To escape detection was considered 
by them very honorable. They became such a 
nuisance that they were put under police sur- 
veillance. The men were not allowed to leave 
their village without reporting to the police 
where they were going and how long they were 
going to stay. They were also required to re- 
port to the police at the village to which they 
were going. 

Our mission began work there a few years 
ago. The police laughed at our native evangel- 
ists when they first went in. They said no good 
could be done among those thieves. They were 
perfectly willing for the experiment to be tried 
out. After some time a few of the men became 
Christians, later some of the women, and at the 
time of my visit there were twenty Christians 
from among the thieving caste at Kesaruadih. 
There were Christians in ten houses, or half the 
houses in the village. The Christians gathered 
together for conference in the little two room 
house of the evangelist. This man had lived 
here for nearly a year. He conducts a Sunday- 
school in his little home every Sunday, and also 

[245] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

a communion service. He conducts a day school 
for an hour each day for the children who desire 
to come. He also goes to seven or eight villages 
and teaches regularly. 

It was a queer looking crowd that sat down 
with Mr. Saum and me on the floor of that little 
Indian home. How humble these Christians 
seemed who had lately come out of the thieving 
caste, and how proud this evangelist was to have 
the new Sahib from America visit his little home 
far from the mission station. On the walls were 
a number of colored pages clipped from the 
catalog of a famous mail order house from 
Chicago. Quite a number of American post cards 
were also on the walls, one being a beautiful 
picture of Niagara Falls. 

After we had talked for some time, one of 
the men made a little speech to me. In sub- 
stance this is about what he said: "Sahib, all 
of us here used to belong to the thieving caste. 
We were thieves. We taught our children to 
steal. We didn't know any better. But the white 
Sahib came and taught us about Jesus. The 
evangelist came often and told us the story over 
and over again. Finally some of us became 
Christians. We found out we could make more 
money by being Christians than we could by 
stealing and now we no longer steal. We send 
our children to school. Five of the men here 
send their boys to the Mungeli boarding school. 
Some of them may be preachers. Sahib we 
thank you for sending us the story of Jesus. We 

[246] 



MUNGELI 



are all praying for you, and we are praying that 
before long all the houses in Kesaruadih will 
have Christians in them. We want our village 
entirely changed from a thieving village to a 
Christian village." 

What transformations come into the lives 
of these poor people, when a great compelling 
ideal has entered their souls. The policemen 
say that one evangelist or one missionary is 
worth five policemen in Kesaruadih. People who 
have known the past history of that village now 
travel miles to see and know something of the 
strange thing that has come to pass. There is 
but one power that could bring about this trans- 
formation, and that is the gospel "which is the 
power of God unto salvation" even to a thieving 
village in the heart of India. 

ON HORSEBACK TO PATHARIA 

We made the trip from Kesaruadih to Pa- 
tharia on horseback, where we stayed all night, 
sleeping in a little mud school-house. This is a 
village of about a thousand people. It is plan- 
ned to establish a dispensary here. Two Chris- 
tian teachers and their wives live here and con- 
duct the school. The head master is very much 
interested in the school, and reports splendid 
progress and interest among the people of the 
village. There are several Christian families 
here. 

The Malgazar who owns this village is a 
Mohammedan. He not only owns the land upon 

[247] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

which the village is located but he owns about 
two hundred acres surrounding the village. Many 
of the people who live in the village work on his 
land or rent land from him on the shares. It 
would be well here for the reader to get an idea 
about the land situation in India. Perhaps it 
may most easily be illustrated by this tall, proud 
Mohammedan Malgazar who not only owns Pa- 
tharia, but owns eleven other villages either 
partially or entirely. 

Mr. Saum sent for him to call upon us. He 
came over and sat in the little school-house with 
us while the school was being conducted in the 
open court outside. He asked questions about 
my camera, about the rifle, and about the farm- 
ing tools in America, and about our system of 
taxation. Then I asked him some questions. His 
ancestors have been Malgazars for several 
generations. These men pay to the government 
large sums of money in taxes. The govern- 
ment must look to them for their own taxes and 
for assistance in collecting the head tax of the 
people who work on their land. 

He gave the following list of villages he 
owned and the number of acres around the vill- 
ages: 

First village .1600 acres....one-half interest 

Second village 800 acres....one-half interest 

Third village 1400 acres.. ..full interest 

Fourth village 1100 acres....full interest 

Fifth village 900 acres.. ..full interest 

Sixth village 1000 acres.. ..full interest 

[248] 



MUNGELI 



Seventh village.... 325 acres.... full interest 

Eighth village 650 acres.... full interest 

Ninth village 800 acres.. ..half interest 

Tenth village 600 acres.. .one-eighth interest 

Eleventh village.. 1150 acres.... one-eighth interest 
Patharia village.. 200 acres.... full interest. 

Thus this one man, either partially or en- 
tirely, owns and controls over ten thousand 
acres of land. More than seventy per cent of 
the people of India are engaged in agriculture. 
The average Indian farm is not more than five 
acres. It can readily be seen, therefore, the in- 
equality existing between this man and the 
average Indian farmer. No wonder he is looked 
upon as a big man. 

Being a Mohammedan and devout and rich, 
he has already made a trip to Mecca and is very 
proud of it. He has actually looked upon the 
Holy City of the Mohammedans with his own 
eyes. He was invited by the English government 
to attend the Durbar at Delhi in 1911, when the 
King was crowned Emperor of the Indian Em- 
pire. This man is very proud of having been 
present upon that historic occasion, and, ''stand- 
ing up before the Rajah Sahib, King George V." 

It will not take much imagination for the 
reader to understand some of the difficulties in 
the way of building up a strong church and a 
strong Christian influence in a village where 
such a man is the dominating factor. He was 
very courteous, as the leading influential Indians 
always are, but back of his courtesy is his Mo- 

[249] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

hammedan fanaticism, and no loyal Moham- 
medan ever allows Christianity to have full 
sway without his secret or open opposition. 

BIG DOINGS AT BHULAN 
1 

We continued from Patharia to Bhulan on 
horseback. It was necessary to ride for several 
miles upon the ridges between the fields to get 
to Bhulan. There are not many good roads 
in that section of the country. When we were 
about a mile out of the village we met two men, 
the chief men of the village who had come out 
to greet us. They bade us salaam and welcome. 
A half mile further on we met the teachers and 
the whole school which had come out to give us 
a cordial greeting. There are eighty-two in the 
school and it was a fine sight to see them all 
bow and salaam as we rode up. 

The mission school is the only school in 
this village. This is our banner school for that 
area and a number of the children of Christian 
parents come from other villages for their educa- 
tion. 

We have a good school building here which 
is also used for a church building. There are 
four teachers with their wives. The school 
and the church have a most excellent influence 
in the community. The people are friendly and 
there is but very little opposition to the work. 

This was a big day at Bhulan for it was the 
time for the Thanksgiving offering, and the 

[250] 



MUNGELI 



Christians from the surrounding villages were 
all present. It was also an occasion of extra- 
ordinary importance to them because the Secre- 
tary Sahib from America was present. After the 
usual greetings we all went into the school-house 
where the program was to be given. Many of 
the non-Christian people were present and the 
building was jammed to the doors. A number of 
Christian songs were sung and the children re- 
cited many portions of the Scriptures. Four non- 
Christian boys recited the Beatitudes and gave 
the Lord's Prayer in Hindi. I made a short talk 
through an interpreter on "The Purpose and 
Meaning of Thanksgiving." 

Following the program the Thanksgiving 
offering was taken. This was managed by the 
Indian evangelists who preach in and around 
Bhulan. They read the list of names of the 
church members and as each name was read the 
man and wife and children came forward to- 
gether and put their offerings upon the table. 
One man and wife and his mother gave about 
four rupees, which is a large offering for people 
in their financial circumstances. One young 
woman gave a rupee, which was a very large 
offering but was explained on the ground that 
she was a "second generation Christian." That 
expression has a world of meaning in India. 
Everything that goes with growth and progress 
and education and leadership and Christian 
stability is involved when they say "second 
generation Christian." 

[251] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

Some of the mothers brought their babies 
with money in their little chubby hands to place 
upon the offering table. Some farmers gave 
slips of paper indicating that they would give 
a certain amount of grain. One farmer who was 
considered rather "close," announced that he 
would give five and a half rupees' worth of grain, 
and the whole crowd cheered. Another man 
gave one rupees' worth of grain and one rupee 
in cash. This was a fine offering for him and 
the crowd cheered again. The total amount of 
the offering, in cash and grain, amounted to 
forty rupees. Practically every Christian had a 
part in the offering and they were all happy over 
the results. 

2 

Following this we were to have a big basket 
dinner. It did not consist of fried chicken and 
apple pie and four kinds of cake. It consisted of 
plain curry and rice, the simple, yet nutritious 
food of these common people. One old man stole 
a march on the entertainment committee and 
informed Mr. Saum and me that we were to eat 
dinner at his house. We went with him, took 
off our shoes, sat on the floor and were just 
finishing a big plate of curry and rice when a 
committee of five appeared upon the scene. There 
was war brewing. This committee informed us 
that this man had no right to invite us to his 
house, that the plan was for us to eat with the 
rest of the crowd; that they were all waiting, 
they had eaten nothing, and that they would not 
[252] 



MUNGEL1 



eat unless Mr. Saum and I came to eat with them. 
Saum is a wise man and he poured oil upon the 
troubled waters by telling them that we had mis- 
understood, and that now we had eaten with this 
man we would also go over and eat with them. 
This was satisfactory all around and we soon 
were seated on the long veranda and the waiters 
were dishing out heaping plates of curry and 
rice to the hungry crowd. 

One tall, slim old fellow who was blind, was 
seated on the edge of the veranda, by the side of 
a post. They ran out of plates by the time they 
had reached him, and the only thing left was a 
wash basin. They filled it nearly half full of 
curry and rice. I thought it would kill the old 
man if he ate this first course, but to my surprise 
he was calling for the second order before I had 
gotten started. He cleaned up his second order 
and held up the wash basin for a third helping. 
The waiter gave him a scolding for making a hog 
out of himself, but gave him a small portion for 
the third time. When the old man had finished 
he leaned up against the veranda post and was 
sound asleep in two minutes. 

Following the dinner hour we had a good 
visit in the yard and they asked me many ques- 
tions about America, my family, the churches, 
how we farmed, the ocean voyage, etc. They 
were very much interested when I reported to 
them that our churches were growing in mis- 
sionary vision, year by year. They say they 
want their Indian churches and Christians to 
do the same. j- 2 531 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

When they all grouped together for the 
photograph they stood under the large sign 
which they had put up to welcome me. It was 
on a piece of cloth twelve feet long and three feet 
wide. It was held in place by two bamboo posts. 
The Hindi inscription on the sign read "Victory 
to Jesus" and after the photograph had been 
taken they all joined reverently in giving the 
cheer of "Victory to Jesus." They often give 
that cheer at a baptismal service or when a new 
convert comes out to confess Christ. They also 
give it at conferences where they meet together 
to encourage one another in the Christian life. 
As I bade them goodbye that day, perhaps never 
to see them again, I felt that if all the Christians 
in the world were as true as these Indian Chris- 
tians "Victory to Jesus" would really come. 

WHAT THEY SAID TO ME AT PENDRIDIH 
(Note: Dih in Pendridih is pronounced dee.) 

Many years ago the mission saw its oppor- 
tunity and bought the village of Pendridih and 
about two hundred acres of land surrounding it. 
This made it possible for the mission to appoint 
the Malgazar for the village and for him to be 
so recognized before the law. Mr. Saum is the 
Christian Malgazar of the village of Pendridih. 
The people of that section, therefore, have the 
opportunity of seeing the growth and develop- 
ment of a Christian community and of seeing the 
people who live in the village get a square deal 
when they borrow seed for their crops. 

[254] 



MUNGELI 



This farm is a constant example to the near- 
by farmers. It always produces more bushels 
per acre than those of the Hindu farmers. At 
the Raipur fair, corresponding to a state fair at 
home, the Pendridih farm took first prize on 
wheat. No wonder the people are anxious to get 
prize seed wheat for their fields. The farm also 
received a medal for the production of rice. The 
agricultural department of the province has 
arranged to make Pendridih a distribution 
center for improved seed grain. 

The mission also maintains a co-operative 
bank in Pendridih. Thus the people, when 
necessity arises, are able to secure a loan with- 
out the extortionate rate of interest demanded 
by the money lenders. 

The village is about nine miles from Mun- 
geli. The church there has about one hundred 
and thirty members. They have their own native 
preacher, and support him with their own gifts. 
They have a fairly good church building but it is 
now too small for their needs, and they are plan- 
ning to erect a new building which will cost 
about one thousand dollars. Of this amount the 
Indian Christians will be able to raise about four 
hundred dollars and the mission will assist them 
with the other six hundred dollars. 

The school at Pendridih is a good one. There 
are five teachers and the head master and all 
of them are enthusiastic. They have five or six 
different castes represented in the school. 



[255] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

The whole Christian community, with many 
others, met in the church to bid me welcome 
and to assist in the program of education which 
I was to receive. This program consisted of a 
number of addresses or talks by different people 
representing different phases of the work. Here 
is what they said to me (verbatim) as I sat in 
that quaint little Indian church at Pendrihih. 

One of the teachers arose and told the 
reason of the meeting: 

"May it be known to all you good people 
that we all who are seated here, whether of this 
place or from other places, may you know that 
this is not a prayer meeting, nor church, nor 
Christians, but it is the time of the growth of 
our work. And all of us present here have come 
to receive and give advice to each other, and to 
pray for the advance of God's Kingdom and have 
met with our Secretary, Wilson Sahib, who is 
of the Home Board Committee. It was his great 
desire that he might meet the Indian Christians 
and teach them concerning the growth of the 
Kingdom of God, and learn the methods here, 
and knowing the conditions here, present it to 
the Home Board. And now opportunity is given, 
first, that we all stand up to show him honor. 
May God bless him, and lreer> him during his 
journey, this is the prayer of us all here." 

As this man finished the whole audience 
arose and gave me a most cordial and unani- 
mous salaam. 



[256] 



MUNGELI 



3 

Rama stood up, bowed to me and the audi- 
ence, and spoke as follows: 

"About twenty years ago Gordon Sahib 
bought this village for rupees one thousand 
eight hundred, and had the farm work begun. 
The farming was begun, and then for some 
reason was stopped. Then again in 1913, 0. J. 
Grainger Sahib said, 'This work shall be opened 
up again.' Having mercy he himself gave about 
rupees two hundred to this work and hired 
workers. Then every year God's blessing was 
upon this work. People found numerous ad- 
vantages from this work, as, 

"1- — Gradually the value of the farm in- 
creased until instead of rupees one thousand 
eight hundred, it is now worth about rupees ten 
thousand, and every year the capital increases. 
The village capital now saved in hand is about 
rupees two thousand five hundred. 

"2 — Now on occasions the Christians are 
helped with seeds, which they formerly did not 
receive, and because they had no seed had heavy 
losses. Our Christians who worked by the day 
for their living have now work for every month 
of the year. Formerly part of the year they had 
to leave their homes to hunt for work. 

"3 — It is an advantage, not only to the mis- 
sion and Christians, but non-Christians also are 
given seeds and work, thus affording us an op- 
portunity to preach the gospel to them and give 

[257] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

them Christian influence and show them our 
sympathy. 

"4 — In this village we Christians live with 
great peace. Christians living in other villages 
have not this peace. They have many petty 
persecutions and temptations. With this ex- 
perience we bear witness and petition; when 
there are such advantages upon this farm, why 
does not our Society buy other farms? The 
growth and development, spiritual and secular, 
the spread of the Kingdom of God, the monthly 
growth, we petition and hope that our Mission- 
ary Society will buy such villages as will in- 
crease the wealth and strengthen the church." 

4 

Damaru Nichol is the fine, tall, intelligent 
pastor of the Pendridih church. He said: 

"Although we were born amongst believers 
in ghosts and goblins, idol-worshippers and 
poor, and where it is sad to think of our condi- 
tion in life, but we thank God that He has called 
us out from that condition and has chosen us, 
that being His, we may work for Him. 

"We know that we are not perfect and are 
not worthy of all things, but with the help of 
God we are growing gradually and are beginning 
to understand our duty and responsibility. The 
proof of this is when five or six years ago the 
church was very weak in service, giving, and all 
kinds of church work. They thought that all 
such work was for the Sahib, or co-workers. I 
remember that one month the collection was 

[258] 



MUNGELI 



only eight pice! (This would be equal to about 
six mills.) In those days O. J. Grainger Sahib 
who was then the missionary in charge, said to 
me, 'It would be well for you people to separate 
your work, accounts, church councils, etc., from 
the Mungeli church.' And so it was done. 

"Then people perceive that responsibilities 
have come upon us. We must care for our church 
and slowly this work began. Now the collec- 
tions have increased to rupees from twelve to 
fifteen per month. Have begun to care for the 
poor and have undertaken one special work. 
See! Our church house is small, broken down, 
and is in danger of falling. We have promised 
to collect money on a new church. And the 
church has collected about rupees five hundred. 
Although the building will be about rupees two 
thousand five hundred, nevertheless the church 
will begin work when they have collected 
rupees one thousand. After that we do not 
know where we will get money to finish it. But 
we know that this is the work of God and that 
He will finish it. With faith we begin work. 
We ask our Missionary Society to help us in this 
work. 

"We do other work also connected with the 
mission, preach the gospel, especially to re- 
latives of the Christians, and to those whom we 
know, and bring them into the church. And 
gradually the work is growing in every direction. 
May God help us." 



[259] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

5 

Following this a tall farmer arose, named 
Ghasiya, and spoke about the heeds of their 
children : 

"First we thank God and the missionaries 
that by the mercy of God and the teaching of 
the missionaries, having left our former con- 
ditions in which our ancestors were entangled, 
we have come into our present condition. 

"Our parents worshipped idols and were, 
swamped in the mire of sin. They were like 
animals, that is, they were contaminated by 
idol-worship, but we have left that condition. 

"In the beginning of the Mungeli work there 
were five of us boys between ten and twelve 
years in the Mungeli school. At that time Jack- 
son Sahib came. Every evening he seated us 
on his veranda and taught us religion. Then we 
five boys promised that 'This religion seems to 
be true and we will sure become Christians.' 
Then after Mr. Jackson, Gordon Sahib came, and 
according to our promise we were baptized by 
him. Then we came into the true religion and 
this is now our religion. In this way our 
brethren and sisters in the church have come 
into this religion, and now we have many chil- 
dren who are in Damoh, Harda, Bilaspur, Ma- 
hoba and Kulpahar schools. 

"Therefore we all request the missionaries 
and Secretary Wilson Sahib that they will see 
that our children have even better opportunity 
than we have. That they may not remain as 
we are, but that in good things they may go be- 

[260] 



MUNGEL1 



yond us. By the greatness of God, through their 
enthusiasm, more may be done. Therefore, 
through Secretary Wilson Sahib, we send word 
to all brethren there, concerning our children 
that you may make great effort that our chil- 
dren may advance more than we have done. May 
God give blessings." 

6 

Sukhru, the evangelist, who lives and works 
at the thieving village of Kesaruadih, spoke 
briefly: 

"1 — Former condition of the Kesaruadih 
people: 

"They kept bad company — therefore they 
were a bad lot. They were thieves — therefore 
the police were constantly after them, and all 
the people around look upon them with con- 
tempt. They were like sheep without a shep- 
herd. 

"2 — When these people, because of their 
troubles, became Christians, from that time their 
conditions began to improve, and the very people 
who had formerly persecuted them understood 
that they are now all right; and began to re- 
spect them. The people in villages round-about, 
formerly would not allow them to come into 
their villages, but now those same people allow 
them to come and treat them with respect. About 
two years ago these people became Christians. 
At first people said that these Kesaruadih people 
never would become good, but now those very 
people have begun to call them good. 

[261] . 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

"3 — Their children were wild and ignorant. 
And in regard to them it was thought that 'as 
the parents are, so will the children be.' But in- 
stead of this the children have become good. 
For about a year the boys have been in the 
Mungeli hostel, and are learning well in school. 
Their parents have begun to pay school fees at 
the rate of annas eight per month for each boy. 
Megnath gives Rs. one for his two boys. Rohigo 
gives Rs. one for his son and his adopted son. 
Bisalu gives annas eight for his boy. In this way 
the boys read in the Mungeli school. One man 
is too poor to give anything for fees for his boy. 

"4 — On Sunday these people stop all work, 
attend Sunday-school, and both morning and 
evening service. They give annas two per month. 
Some have begun to see the light, because they 
are thinking about spiritual things. 

"5 — The people of Kesaruadih all give 
thanks to the mission because they have learned 
to live good lives and are now in good condition." 

7 

Vishli, the head master of the school, made 
the following report and address: 

"The enrollment of the school is eighty- two. 
New pupils twenty-five. Total about one hun- 
dred. The average attendance is seventy-five 
per cent. Eight girls are in this school. The 
monthly fees received for pupils average about 
rupees two. Many pupils are excused from pay- 
ing fees because they are so poor. 

"Sometimes the school committee or the 
Tasildar Sahib each year urges the children to 

[262] 



MUNGELI 



attend school. Besides this mission officers 
come (Miss Sahib comes regularly) and at the 
present time his honor, Secretary Wilson Sahib 
has come. We have been blessed by his coming. 

"There are children from about six villages 
enrolled in this school. Some of these villages 
are one mile, or two miles distant. There are the 
following castes: Christians, Brahmans, Kur- 
umis, Gondas, Telis, Rawats, Pankas, Chamars, 
Buniyas, and Garas. 

"Six persons belong to the school staff. 
There are two women and three men teachers 
and one janitor. All of us thank God first and the 
missionary Sahib, that they have brought us up, 
cared for us, taught us things physical and 
spiritual, and made us such men that we are 
now able to make a living. You have given us 
advantages that have enabled us to get certifi- 
cates from the government, or honor from the 
mission, and now we are able to work. 

"In this station are all village schools. 
Schools are open only in the morning, so the 
children may have time for their work in the 
fields, or take the cattle out to graze. It takes 
a good while to go and come. 

"At eight o'clock the teachers and pupils 
all meet for prayer, then all go to their respect- 
ive classes and we have about four and a half 
hours of school. Half an hour each day the 
Bible is taught to each class so that the pupils 
receive both temporal and spiritual instruction. 
So then they learn good behavior. 

[263] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

"The teaching staff of this school receives 
rupees sixty-two — annas eight, monthly salary. 
We thank the Society for spending so much for 
us. This school also receives a small grant from 
the government. We also thank the missions 
and the station committee for the revival meet- 
ings and master's conferences sometimes given 
us that we may meet those of other places. We 
are thus able to teach our children with pleasure. 

"When the teachers have time they visit 
the parents of pupils, instructing them in re- 
ligious things, and in sickness give them such 
help as is right. Besides this the teachers help 
in the church work, helping in the Endeavor, 
Sunday-schools, etc. 

"We have a good group of teachers. I give 
something about their qualifications: 

"Laksmi Bai, teacher. Her age is twenty- 
three years. She is herself from the Bilaspur 
Girls' Boarding School. She is from the sixth 
Hindi class. She has taught in this school about 
three years. She teaches the infant class. There 
are twenty-five pupils in her class enrolled and 
some new pupils not yet enrolled. She has such 
a pleasant manner of teaching that her pupils 
never wish to be absent. She loves her pupils 
and gives them every kind of help that is right. 
She is a good singer, and her pupils know good 
songs and stories. The pupils are pleased with 
her and are kind to one another. She teaches 
three and a half hours then dismisses her class. 

"She can also sew. If the honorable Wilson 
Sahib should be in need of a handkerchief then 

[264] 



MUNGELI 



we may be able to send him one of her make. 
When necessary she helps in the making of 
clothes for the poor children and also teaches 
a class in Sunday-school. She is also very clever 
in her housework. She makes good chipatis 
(bread.) She has a memory and reads the news- 
papers and the Christian Sahayak. 

"Samuel, assistant master. His age is 
twenty years. Has read in the government mid- 
dle English school at Bilaspur until fourth En- 
glish. We are happy that this education so far 
has been at his father's expense. His father and 
mother are old Christians here. He has worked 
with me in this school nearly one year. There 
are fifteen pupils enrolled in his class. Every 
morning early he walks one mile to call the 
pupils. The advantage in this is that he gets 
exercise and also visits the parents. He re- 
turns in time for his school work. 

"He teaches the second class. He is a good 
teacher. Sometimes he talks a little English 
with his teaching. He works hard for his school, 
helps with the register and monthly report. He 
teaches four and a half hours. He loves hockey 
and football. He has another accomplishment, 
that is, he loves fishing. He also gives great 
thought to religious matters. He is kind to all. 
We hear that the mission will send him to Rai- 
pur for a special course in farming. We rejoice 
with the mission that he will be given this op- 
portunity. 

"Prem Bai. She is the wife of Damaru 
Nichol. Her age is about thirty-two years. She 

[265] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

was educated in the Mahoba boarding school, 
Damoh, and Jubbulpore Bible College. Passed 
the sixth Hindi and Bible College course. She has 
taught in this school about two and a half years. 
She teaches the third Hindi. There are fourteen 
pupils enrolled in her class. She loves her chil- 
dren very much. One of her own children is in 
each class. After school is out she does her 
housework. She visits with all the people about, 
she sews, using a machine, she makes butter 
and cooks well. 

"Kishori Lai, assistant teacher. His age is 
about twenty-eight years. He passed the sixth 
Hindi and knows considerable English also. He 
attended school in Damoh and Harda. He has 
taught here three years. He teaches the fourth 
Hindi class. He has fourteen pupils enrolled. 
He especially loves small children. When school 
closes he helps in the house work. He is also a 
deacon in the church. He also likes to help in 
other work. He finds it easy to make two pice 
out of one pice. He who wishes to be rich may 
learn of him. 

"Bishli, head master. I also am a clod of 
earth. I received my town certificate while Mr. 
Adams was in Bilaspur. I teach the fifth Hindi 
class. I try to make the pupils strong physically 
and mentally. I also help in the church work. 
I love small children. I can swim well and ride 
horseback a little. There is much more to say 
but I now close." 

[266] 



MUNGELI 



8 
After this splendid program I was called 
upon to speak. I will leave it to the imagination 
of the reader to supply what I said of encourage- 
ment and commendation of the splendid work 
and vision of the Indian Christians at Pendridih. 
And while the imagination is at work the reader 
might well look forward to the transformation 
that would take place in India if there were ten 
thousand such villages as Pendridih. 

A BUSY SUNDAY AT MUNGELI 
1 

The communion service was held at 8:00 
o'clock in the morning. The good, commodious 
church was full. Hira Lai and Bickram acted as 
deacons. The individual communion cups were 
used. No sermon was preached at this early 
morning service. 

Then followed the Sunday-school, with 
Bickram, the hospital assistant, as superintend- 
ent. When the birthday offerings were called 
for, several boys came forward and as they de- 
posited their offerings in the birthday box they 
announced in a loud voice how old they were. 
Then the lesson leaves were passed and a Hindi 
lesson was read in concert, the women reading as 
well as the men. Following the opening exer- 
cises the classes had a study period of forty-five 
minutes. 

They marched out of the church and sat in 
groups upon the grass in the warm sun. One 
teacher had a tripod with a large Sunday-school 

[267] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

map upon it from which he taught the lesson. 
The teachers seemed well prepared and all of 
the classes seemed to take a real interest in the 
lesson. 

2 

In the afternoon the annual Thanksgiving 
service was held. This is held in February, and 
not in November as is done in America. It will 
be necessary to give the account of this service 
somewhat in detail that the reader may fully 
understand all that it involves. 

A great crowd was present for the service, 
ten different villages being represented in the 
audience. Some people came a distance of fif- 
teen miles. Even before the service began a 
couple of chickens squawked which was an in- 
dication that the offering was to be a liberal one. 
A blind woman was led to her place by the ushers 
and her son later walked across the church and 
put some money in her hand for the offering. 
"Great events cast their shadows before them." 

Everybody joined heartily in the singing. 
Hira Lai read the Scriptures and Miss Franklin 
was called upon for prayer. At the close of her 
prayer another chicken let out a hearty squawk. 
Four boys from Kesaruadih sang. Some special 
Indian music was given by an orchestra con- 
sisting of a tabla — two small drums — two violins, 
and one soloist. The music had been arranged 
by and was under the direction of Mrs. G. E. 
Miller. 

Mr. Shah preached a fine sermon telling of 
the growth of the church at Mungeli and at 

[268] 



MUNGELI 



Posterpur, and at several other villages in that 
vicinity. He told how faithful the people had 
been in their lives, and in their giving. One 
poor ignorant woman had learned the story of 
Zaccheus. She in turn taught it to her husband 
and he now tells this story of Jesus dealing with 
Zaccheus wherever he goes. Following this 
speech, Ganesh, another fine Indian preacher 
made an address. 

Then came the offering. Hira Lai read the 
names of the Christians, calling his own name 
first, and he and his wife and children put their 
offerings upon the table. One woman brought 
an egg, another woman four eggs, others brought 
offerings of little sacks of grain. A blind man 
brought up a chicken and placed it upon the 
platform. Others brought their chickens and 
gave them freely. A large group of Hindus who 
had walked in four miles for the service, and who 
were sitting in the rear of the church, stood up 
to watch the people make their offerings. 

One man left the church and went home 
and returned with his offering. Another gave 
rupees one in money, and rupees one six in 
grain. A man brought an offering of seven annas 
for his new baby boy. He lived seven miles 
away. A woman gave two more eggs. Another 
man who had eight children and an income of 
rupees ten per month made an offering. Most 
of these people give monthly to the church but 
these offerings were extra. The boarding school 
boys marched up and every one gave an offering. 
The missionaries also made their offering. The 

[269] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

lepers sent word that they would give rupees 
fourteen, ten annas, out of their weekly allow- 
ances. 

When the opportunity was given several of 
the Hindus came forward and deposited their 
gifts upon the table. When it was all counted up 
eggs, chickens, grain and money, the total offer- 
ing amounted to rupees one hundred and twenty- 
five, eleven annas, four pice, and when they re- 
ceived the reports from all of the out-stations, 
including Fosterpur, Bhulan and Pendridih, the 
total Thanksgiving offering amounted to rupees 
three hundred and thirty seven and one anna. 

It was a great service and everybody was 
happy. Following the service I had a conversa- 
tion with the group of Hindus present. I told 
them that we were hoping that their village 
would become a Christian village and that they 
would some time co-operate in helping to give 
Christianity to all the people in the Mungeli dis- 
trict. 

No man could spend such a busy Sunday 
with the Indian Christians who live in and 
around Mungeli without coming to have a high 
regard for their ability, their devotion, their 
consecration and their work. They are rapidly 
growing in the grace and knowledge of the truth. 
With such leaders as Hira Lai and Mr. Shah, and 
with their increasing growth in liberality, the 
time may not be far away when the church at 
Mungeli may become a self-supporting, a self- 
governing, and a self-propagating church. May 
that day speedily come. 

[270] 



MUNGELI 



3 

Many years ago a new convert was enrolled 
by the name of Samuel Biswas. He was a Ben- 
gali and was better educated than the average 
Indian. He was a man who came to be a good 
preacher but his influence and work widened 
through the years. He was well acquainted with 
the Indian law regarding land, inheritances, 
marriages, etc. In later years he developed into 
a sort of lawyer-preacher. Many of the new 
converts would have lost all of their property 
had it not been for Samuel Biswas. 

For a while he spent most of his time in 
keeping the Indian Christians out of the courts, 
protecting them from both physical and legal 
assault, getting their land titles cleared up, going 
through the tedious processes of getting their 
marriage and inheritance technicalities straight- 
ened out, and a lot of other things which made it 
possible for the Christian community to stand its 
ground, and take root in the various villages. 
He did all this disagreeable work with a patience 
and fidelity which cannot be too highly appreci- 
ated. No missionary could have done that piece 
of work as he did it. He was ever on the alert 
to encourage the Christians to see that they had 
their rights and to help make strong the Indian 
church, so that after a while it would be able to 
stand alone. 

Three workers stand out in my mind as 
among the strongest of our Indian leaders. M. 
J. Shah, the wide awake evangelist and leader. 
Hira Lai, the hospital assistant and effective 

[271] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

personal worker. Samuel Biswas, lawyer, ad- 
visor, advocate and preacher. 
(Note: Word has just come that Biswas, after a 
serious illness, has passed away.) 

EVANGELISTIC WORK FOR WOMEN 
1 

A very thorough and systematic program of 
evangelistic work among the women is also be- 
ing carried on. This work is under the direction 
of Miss Neva Nicholson. Miss Nicholson has 
seven regular Bible women under her super- 
vision, with one or two substitutes when needed. 
Two of these Bible women live in Mungeli, but 
the others live in the out-stations and work 
among the women there. Miss Nicholson goes 
to the out-stations, helps to plan and direct the 
work and encourages the workers. She also 
gets a monthly report from each worker. She 
has a panchaiyat — a committee meeting or con- 
ference of the women from time to time, to talk 
over and decide on all matters relating to the 
work. 

In December a three days' conference was 
held in Mungeli with all of the Bible women 
present and the women teachers of the schools. 
All other Christian women were invited to this 
conference. The conference was held in the 
bungalow where Miss Nicholson and Miss Frank- 
lin live. They removed the chairs and sat on the 
floor so the women would feel perfectly at ease. 
They entertained the women during the con- 
ference and gave them their food. 

[272] 




u 
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43 



3 

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C3 

£ 

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MUNGELI 



Mrs. Shah presided at the meetings and 
gave talks and suggestions concerning the best 
methods of work. Bible classes were held, re- 
ports of the year given, and a new plan for carry- 
ing out their work was agreed upon. 

One plan was to have the women workers 
urge their hearers to an immediate acceptance 
of Christ. Also to report on how their message 
and work were helping and developing the Chris- 
tian women whom they visited. One worker re- 
ported that one of the Christian women, when 
she went to the fields to gather grain, told Bible 
stories to her companions. 

At this conference definite aims were set 
for the year. These aims were as follows : 

1 — The winning of one hundred Christian 

women. 
2 — To secure one hundred girls for enroll- 
ment in the schools. 
3 — One hundred and fifty villages to be 
visited at least three times during the 
year. 
4 — The mother of each child in all the 

schools, to be visited. 

5 — To get- every Christian woman to do 

some special service for which she is 

not paid. 

Each out-station has a certain number of 

villages allotted to it. Thus a new hope is given 

to these Bible women, and as they work they 

have a definite plan for reporting their labors. 

They report the number of readers of the New 

Testament, the number of houses they visit, the 

[273] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

number of villages visited, the number of school 
children visited, the number of new girl pupils 
secured, the number of volunteer workers, the 
number of new Christian women won, and the 
total number of hearers for the month. When 
each out-station reports to Miss Nicholson, at the 
end of the month, she compiles the records for 
all and sends the report to each woman under 
her direction. Thus each woman has a report 
of her own work and a report of all of the 
other women as well. This plan stimulates 
activity and lends unity and encouragement to 
all the workers. Miss Nicholson reports that 
under this new plan more villages were visited 
in one month than had been visited in any six 
months before. A total number of two thousand 
six hundred and forty-six hearers were reported 
in a single month. 

2 

This kind of work takes constant care and 
oversight. A regular series of Bible lessons is 
prepared and taught to these Bible women to 
teach their hearers. A series of Bible stories is 
arranged for the use of these workers. The 
women often find a crowd in the field, as they 
travel from one village to another. They stop, 
sing a few songs, tell the Bible stories, and the 
people usually hear them gladly. They often 
ask them to tarry longer and tell them more. 

Dr. Jennie Fleming (who was in America 
during my visit to India) also assists in the evan- 
gelistic work at Mungeli. She makes many 
tours among the villages to teach the people 

[274] 



MUNGELI 



about Christianity. She carries a little com- 
munion set with her. When she goes into a 
village where there are a few Christians, the 
communion service is observed. 

The lady missionaries go in all kinds of 
weather and in all sorts of ways to supervise 
and direct and manage the work under their 
care. They go in ox-carts, in buffalo carts, in 
horse tonga, on horseback, on foot, and some- 
times in a sedan chair, called in India a "dandy," 
carried by four men. As Dr. Fleming returned 
from furlough she was provided with a Ford car 
by some of her friends. But however they go, 
it is with brave hearts and steady hands and 
confident purpose and with unfaltering faith that 
their contribution is necessary for the uplift of 
India's belated womanhood, and for the whole 
program of India's ultimate redemption. 

MEDICAL AND DISPENSARY WORK 

Dr. George E. Miller was the medical mis- 
sionary in charge at Mungeli. He was ably 
assisted by Hira Lai. Twenty-eight people as- 
sembled early one morning for medical treat- 
ment. They were carefully examined, their 
names recorded, their prescriptions written out 
in proper form. Before they filed into the drug 
room to have these prescriptions filled, Hira Lai 
read from the Scriptures to them and taught 
them the meaning of what he read. Others 
came while he was speaking so that the morning 
attendance was from forty to fifty. Sometimes 
it runs much higher than this. In addition to 

[275] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

the Mungeli hospital two dispensaries are main- 
tained at out-stations, besides the work among 
the lepers at Mungeli and the women's leper 
asylum, about a mile from Pendridih. The 
total number of treatments last year was sixteen 
thousand five hundred. The new cases num- 
bered ten thousand two hundred and thirty. 

The dispensary at Barela, twelve miles east, 
has been in operation for a dozen years with the 
same compounder, Dhansai, in charge. He is a 
steady, reliable fellow and has ministered to the 
simple needs of the people. He has thus gained 
their good will and has helped to win a number 
of Christians in several different villages. He 
also has an assistant compounder, and the wives 
of these two men are Bible women under the 
direction of Miss Nicholson. 

The mission owns about two acres of land 
here upon which the dispensary building, the 
school-house, and the houses of the workers are 
located. There are thirty-seven Christians in 
this section living in four different villages. 
Pour of them are farmers who own thirty-three 
acres of land. 

When cases come to the dispensary which 
Dhansai is unable to care for, they are sent to 
the hospital at Mungeli. But many people re- 
ceive simple remedies at Barela who would not 
take the long journey to Mungeli. 

AMONG THE LEPERS 

One Sunday I went with Hira Lai to the 
Leper Asylum, on the outskirts of Mungeli. There 
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MUNGEL1 



are seventy-six lepers there. Most of them are 
Christians. They sat out on the grass in one 
large Sunday-school class, while Hira Lai taught 
them the lesson. 

Following this they moved into a nearby 
building which is used as a church auditorium. 
One side of this building is entirely open. The 
platform is separated from the rest of the build- 
ing by a railing, so that those who conduct the 
service may not come in contact with the lepers. 

These people joined in the singing of the 
songs with vigor and vociferation. When Hira 
Lai read the New Testament lesson a number of 
the lepers opened their own New Testaments and 
followed him in the reading. He made a short 
talk, to them and they listened eagerly. Follow- 
ing his talk the communion was served. They 
have a regular leper church in the institution, 
with the communion every Sunday and two leper 
deacons pass the emblems. One man who was 
formerly an evangelist, is a sort of leper pastor 
to these poor people. 

Before we adjourned some of them requested 
that the new Sahib talk to them a little. I hardly 
knew what to say, but as I was trying to get 
started one of them said, "Sahib, please kill a 
wild boar and send some meat up to us." These 
poor people rarely get meat and to them there 
was nothing ridiculous about asking for some 
wild boar meat immediately following a com- 
munion service. I tried to bring them a word 
of cheer, but they were so much more cheerful 
than most people could have possibly been under 

[277] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

the circumstances, that I felt my talk didn't have 
much in it for them. 

As I finished talking one man said, "Sahib, 
take our bahut salaams (big salaams) back to 
the people of America." Their hope and good 
cheer and happiness were all a mystery to me 
as I looked upon them and knew that they were 
doomed to remain in that institution to the end 
of their days. 

As we were walking back from this service 
I remarked: "Hira Lai, I can't understand why 
those people are so cheerful." He replied in- 
stantly, "Sahib, the secret of it all is Jesus. When 
they become Christians they are happier in their 
minds. The Christians here are easier managed 
and seem much more contented than the non- 
Christians." 

THE WOMEN LEPERS 

About a mile from Pendridih is a leper asy- 
lum for women. Thirty-six women are in this 
institution, and all but four are Christians. They 
sat on the floor and sang their Hindi songs with 
enthusiasm. One song was "I Wear in My Heart 
the Necklace of Jesus," and another, "My Mind is 
Inclined Toward Jesus." They also sang a song 
praising the king, and an improvised song for the 
occasion praising me, saying that they were glad 
that their "father and mother" had come into 
their midst. 

Dr. Miller visits this institution regularly, 
giving such medical treatment as is needed. 

These leper women all had on considerable 
jewelry. As this was the season for the Thanks- 

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MUNGELI 



giving offering Mr. Saum told them how the 
others had given. After he had lead in prayer, 
three or four of these women prayed, thanking 
the Lord for clothing and food and the care they 
were receiving. 

Damaru asked the women if they wanted to 
give and they replied "yes." He asked them if 
they wanted to give by having their names 
called, or if all should give the same amount. 
One old lady said she thought each one should 
give four annas; another thought that three 
annas would be the right amount. There was 
silence for a while and a gray-haired old woman 
said, "Why should we reduce it from four annas 
to three? Jesus has done so much for us we 
would never miss it." So they agreed on four 
and the offering was taken. 

The missionaries and the Indian leaders say 
that these women are never so happy as when 
they are giving to help somebody else to know 
the "Jesus story." I have not found so great 
faith or liberality; no, not in Texas, nor Missouri, 
nor Nebraska, nor Tennessee. 

"AND AS YE GO, TEACH" 

1 

The educational work in and around Mun- 
geli is under the direction of Miss Stella Frank- 
lin. Miss Franklin has spent almost a quarter of 
a century in India. There are five primary 
schools under her supervision. The splendid 
school at Pendridih has been given attention 
elsewhere in this volume. The schools at Bhu- 

[279] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

Ian, Patharia and Fosterpur are wisely guided 
and kept up to the required standard by Miss 
Franklin. The primary school at Mungeli, of 
nearly one hundred pupils, and the boys' board- 
ing school are a part of Miss Franklin's work. 
All of these schools are inspected and examined 
by the government, and all are maintained ac- 
cording to government standards. Two of the 
schools receive a small government grant. 

The total enrollment in all these schools is 
about four hundred and fifty. The pupils come 
from twenty-one different villages. About ninety 
of the more advanced boys and girls of Chris- 
tian parents are attending the mission boarding 
school elsewhere. 

Miss Franklin is very proud of the fact that 
the four teachers in the primary school at Mun- 
geli are all Christians. Also that fifty-six of the 
pupils are either Christians or the children of 
Christian parents. The head teacher in this 
school has finished the eighth grade and one 
year of the normal school. Another teacher has 
finished the seventh Hindi course, and the other 
two the upper primary fifth grade. 

Miss Franklin is a thorough believer in 
teaching the Bible in a systematic way to all the 
classes. Most of these pupils can recite lengthy 
passages of the Scriptures from memory. It was 
interesting to hear some of the boys from the 
thieving village recite the Beatitudes. Another 
boy about six years of age told the story of 
Joseph. Another boy of ten recited the story of 
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was the 

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MUNGELI 



son of a cattle man. Preceding Christmas the 
children commit to memory the Christmas story. 

Regular courses of systematic Bible lessons, 
standardized in such a way that they may be 
used in all the schools, is being worked out by 
Miss Franklin. The course for the beginners' 
class contains simple stories from the Old Testa- 
ment and the new Testament. The second and 
third grades have a more advanced course of 
stories, mostly from the Book of Luke. The 
fourth grade has lessons from the Book of 
of Mark, arranged and adapted to meet the 
needs of the pupils. In looking over this course 
of studies I ran across the following: "Note to 
teacher: Your class will not understand the 
reasoning in verses Mark 2:6-10, but you can 
tell the children how Christ did two things for 
the sick man; first, forgave him his sins, second, 
healed him." The fifth grade course is from the 
Book of Matthew. 

It can be seen that with such a thorough 
educational course and with systematic Bible in- 
struction, a ground work is being laid for a better 
citizenship among the people of India. 

2 

The boys' boarding school in Mungeli has 
an enrollment of twenty-three. It was opened 
to help educate the village Christian boys 
and to aid in training plain mission workers 
to meet our greater needs. It is a united effort 
to develop the sons of the new Christians living 
in scattered villages where there are no schools. 
These new Christians would not allow their boys 

[281] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

to be sent as far away as Damon, and until this 
boarding school was started many of these 
parents were indifferent to their boys' education. 

The dormitories are run on a very simple 
plan. No servants of any kind are employed. A 
committee is appointed each month to do the 
buying for the school. They bring all of their 
rice from the village bazaar. A committee of 
the larger boys looks after the cooking. They 
carry water, wash their own clothes, keep the 
yards clean, hoe their own gardens. They were 
very proud of about fifty chickens they were 
raising. The house father has classes for the 
boys from two to four o'clock. Three of the boys 
are learning to sew and may become tailors. 

The parents of these boys are mostly 
farmers. They are encouraged to pay fees in 
grain at the two harvest times. The parents al- 
so provide their clothing. By this co-operation 
the sons of Christian parents are being given 
Christian training to prepare them for the better 
things of life. 

To all of these schools, Miss Franklin goes 
regularly. She examines each class personally 
to see that the proper instruction is being given, 
also examines them on the progress in Bible 
teaching, and prepares the pupils of all the 
schools for the final government examinations. 

The record of our mission schools is that 
the pupils pass better examinations and are bet- 
ter trained than the pupils in an equal number 
of government schools. There are reasons. Miss 
Stella Franklin is one of them. 

[282] 



CHAPTER XIV 



JUBBULPORE 



CHAPTER XIV 

JUBBULPORE 

BIBLE COLLEGE 
1 

Alexander Campbell organized Bethany 
College in 1840. He knew that the great cause 
for which he stood could not permanently suc- 
ceed without properly trained men to carry it 
on. The missionaries in India know that same 
thing. Therefore, they organized a Bible College 
at Harda in 1902. Of the first class trained by 
G. L. Wharton, the following are still with us 
in the work: M. J. Shah, Yakub Masih, and 
John Pana. 

Later the institution was transferred to 
Jubbulpore, as that city is nearer the center of all 
our work. The building is set in the midst of a 
fine campus, adorned with great trees. It is well 
constructed of brick and cement and there are 
plenty of rooms for the classes. The equipment 
is sufficient with the exception of the needed 
volumes for the library. There is room on the 
campus for plenty of playgrounds. The Jubbul- 
pore church was constructed in connection with 
the Bible College and the two make a very 
beautiful and imposing appearance. 

[285] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

The average attendance for a number of 
years at the Bible College has been about twenty- 
five. While this is not a large number, it must 
be remembered that the constituency from which 
to draw the students is limited. Furthermore, 
there are some of our own colleges in America 
that do not have many more than twenty-five 
students studying for the ministry. 

A part of the work is given in Hindi and is 
known as the Hindi course. The men in this 
course have had all the vernacular work given 
in the Indian public schools. Some of them 
have also had some instruction in English. They 
have all had a period of service in the mission 
before coming to the Bible College. These men 
get three years of training. They study Bible 
Geography, Introduction to the Old Testament, 
Introduction to the New Testament, History 
of Bible Lands, Old Testament History, New 
Testament History, Church History, Elementary 
Psychology and Elementary Logic. They also 
are instructed in Homiletics and Christian 
Teaching and Doctrine. In addition to this they 
have an eighteen months' course in Hinduism 
and Mohammedanism. During this training they 
are given practical work in bazaar preaching 
and the Jubbulpore Sunday-schools. 

The men in the English course have all had 
the equivalent of high school training before 
entering the Bible College and do all their work 
in English. This course is arranged in order to 
attract the best qualified men to enter the Bible 

[286] 



JUBBULPORE 



College. It is necessary to get some men for the 
ministry whose training fits them to stand up to 
the well educated Hindus and Mohammedans. 

They are given a three years' course. In 
the first year they take courses in History, 
Psychology, Sociology, Introduction to the 
History of Religion, Introduction to the Study of 
the Old Testament and the New Testament. 
This first year course is planned to prepare them 
for an understanding of the second year's work 
which consists of a thorough study of the Old 
and New Testament, of the Christian Message, 
and of the non-Christian religions of India. The 
third year's course is a practical application of 
the Christian message to the needs of India. 



O. J. Grainger, principal of the Bible Col- 
lege, says that the work given to these men in 
the English course is of a college grade from the 
standpoint of any good college of America. He 
says you will have to hunt a long time among 
college freshmen in America to find men who 
could do that grade of work in a foreign tongue 
any better than those English course men did 
their first year's work. He says, "I had work 
under Aylesworth and Dungan in Cotner and 
under Dean McDairmid and Wakefield and Zol- 
lars in Hiram. The work we are giving in 
Jubbulpore is the equivalent of what I got from 
these men. The men have never had less than 
three and usually four years work." 

[287] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

Mr. Grainger and W. C. McDougall were 
giving full time to the work in the Bible College. 
Faye Livengood was teaching one class. Miss 
Mary Louise Jeter was giving part time to the 
Bible College, teaching classes for the women 
who are wives of the men students. There were 
eight women in the school. These women are 
given a sufficient training so that they will be 
able to carry on the work of Bible women. 

I visited a number of the classes. A class 
of from six to eight is not what ordinarily chal- 
lenges the teacher to do his best work. Yet it 
is my conviction that no more thorough work 
is being done any where than by these faith- 
ful teachers in this small Bible College. The 
students were working like Trojans to ab- 
sorb the teaching, to master the subjects and to 
make their grades. They carry their books 
home at night and come to the early morning 
classes with minds hungry for knowledge and 
training. It's a long, tedious process but the 
men and women who have taken this kind of 
training are now among our most successful 
preachers and evangelists. 

This is not a spectacular work. It does not 
have the inspiration of numbers. Some men, as 
in America, want to be trained for preachers 
who would better be plowing corn or raising rice. 
Yet the instructors in the Bible College are 
sticking to the task year after year and doing 
the best they can with the material that is sent 
to them. They know their work is fundamental. 
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JUBBULPORE 



They know that the Kingdom cannot advance 
without this work. They have seen their stud- 
ents go out and make good in life because of the 
thorough training they have received. Mr. 
Grainger well expressed the feeling of all of 
them when he said: 

"We men who have been doing this work 
don't feel one bit discouraged. It is hard work. 
So is all the work. We feel that we have gotten 
somewhere and have done something worth 
while." 

THE JUBBULPORE CHURCH 

As has been stated before, the church build- 
ing is in connection with the Bible College. It 
is a fine, commodious church and well arranged 
for service and work. It gives a restful feeling 
to sit down in that splendid church and see the 
entire platform banked with potted plants and 
palms. One would know he was in the far East 
if he should wake up some Sunday morning in 
that church. 

The membership, as I remember it, is about 
seventy-five or one hundred. This church is 
ministered to by both the missionaries and the 
more advanced students in the Bible College. 
Many a Bible College student has tried out his 
preaching ability in the Jubbulpore church. 
Many a new Sahib, after the first year's language 
study, has attempted his first sermon in Hindi 
in this church, both to the delight of his fellow 
missionaries and to the Indians, but not always 

[289] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

to the delight of himself. I saw one such Sahib 
making his first attempt. He waded in, backed 
up, stuttered, and began all over again, but 
stayed with it until he had finished his sermon. 
The changing expression on his wife's face dur- 
ing the process, was worth going miles to see. 
And how courteous the Indian preachers were in 
encouraging him and congratulating him on his 
first attempt. 

In addition to the main Sunday-school in the 
Church, there are eight other Sunday-schools in 
different parts of Jubbulpore. The Bible College 
students assist in these Sunday-schools, which 
gives them practical experience along with their 
class work. 

There is also an out-station at Barela, a 
village about ten miles away. Miss Jeter con- 
ducts a girls' school at Barela, where she goes 
regularly to supervise her Indian helpers. The 
missionaries also make frequent trips to Barela, 
preach in the bazaar and give out simple medi- 
cines to the people in need. 

THE "JUB" PRINTING PRESS 
1 

There is no better institution in all our 
work in India than the "Jub" printing press. 
There are about twenty-five men regularly em- 
ployed in the press. It is housed in a good build- 
ing for the purpose of printing and publishing. 
G. W. Brown established the printing press and 
was in charge from the time of its beginning to 

[290] 



JUBBULPORE 



1917, in connection with his work as Principal 
of the Bible College. Many of the workmen in 
the press are Indian Christians who have been 
trained by the missionaries for this particular 
work. 

The Hindi paper, The Christian Sahayak, 
has a very wide influence. It is a weekly paper 
of sixteen pages. Fourteen of these pages are 
always in Hindi, with two pages of English notes 
and news. The contents of the paper show a 
wide range of interest. Two pages are for news 
of the world, two for news of India, two each for 
the Sunday-school notes and Christian En- 
deavor notes, two contain stories for children 
and two on religious news, both local and world 
wide. Then there are two pages for some strong, 
solid article on a religious subject. 

The circulation is about one thousand. This 
does not seem large, but it means a great deal 
more than that number would mean in America. 
This paper is taken wherever there are Indian 
Christians who can read Hindi. It goes to all 
parts of India, even to the extremes of Assam. 
It goes to the Fijis and to East Africa and to 
Mesopotamia. It followed the Indian troops to 
East Africa. They even sent for a time some 
copies to Trinidad on the north coast of South 
America. It is taken by Indian Christians of 
every communion and is read by many mission- 
aries also. O. J. Grainger was editor following 
Mr. Brown, and at the present time Mr. Mc- 
Dougall is editor. 

[291] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

Mr. Alexander is the manager of the print- 
ing press. He has a well trained Indian fore- 
man who takes the responsibility of managing 
the men in the shop and looking after all of the 
details of the work. 

The regular output of the press is about 
four million pages per year. 

TRANSLATIONS 
2 

The following translations into Hindi have 
been printed on the "Jub" press: Hurlbert's Bible 
Geography, The Church of Christ by a Layman, 
Ainslie's God and Me, Newcomb's Elementary 
Theology. Mr. Brown also wrote an original 
work in Hindi on Logic and one on Psychology. 

Miss Mary Thompson wrote a pamphlet on 
the life of Chandra Lela. 

Mrs. Scott, of Harda, wrote a Hindi transla- 
tion of The Other Wise Man. 

Miss Josepha Franklin wrote a Teacher's 
Manual for Lessons in the Gospel of Matthew. 

O. J. Grainger translated into the Hindi, The 
Life of Mohammed, and The Second Year of 
Graded Sunday-school Lessons for Beginners. He 
translated into Hindi about one hundred hymns 
and was Editor-in-Chief for a Union Hymn Book 
gotten out by the Chattisgarh Missionary As- 
sociation. He also wrote in Hindi an original 
book on the Gospel of John giving special atten- 
tion to its teaching as to the Divinity of Christ. 

[292] 



JUBBULPORE 



All of the above translations were printed 
on our Jubbulpore press. The press has also 
published a lot of books and pamphlets written by 
persons of other missions. It publishes a series 
of Sunday-school lesson leaflets. The weekly 
output was five thousand three hundred. One 
course is on the International Lessons and one 
on the Graded Lessons. These are used by many 
Sunday-schools outside of our own mission. 
Considerable printing is also done for the North 
India Bible and Tract Society. A number of 
periodicals are also published for several other 
missions of the Hindi speaking area. The neces- 
sary printing for all of our own stations is done 
at Jubbulpore. 

The printing of the Christian literature is 
done at a loss, but there is an increased amount 
of job work coming to the press which makes 
up for the losses on some of the other publica- 
tions. The need for Christian literature of all 
kinds is very great. The mission could well 
afford to set aside one man who would give all 
his time to the production of the right kind of 
literature for the Hindi speaking people. 

THE ANNUAL CONVENTION 

(Note: To the reader. It is my earnest desire 

that you do not skip this section of the book.) 

1 

The annual convention at Jubbulpore is the 

high time of the year. It is the time when all 

the missionaries leave their own work for a 

[293] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

week and meet to confer upon the problems and 
progress of all the work in all the stations. It is 
the one big event for all of them. It is looked 
back upon with satisfaction and joy for a six 
months' period, and for the next six months it 
is looked forward to with intense eagerness. 

What salutations, salaams, and handshakes 
on the first day of the convention! Here come 
the families that have been living all alone, 
far out from the railroad. How hungry they are 
to see the faces of their fellow workers. Here 
come the doctors and nurses, who have toiled 
through the year, early and late, to be away from 
the grind for a little while and gather new in- 
spiration for the work when they return. Here 
come the school people, the zenana workers, 
the evangelistic missionaries, and those from 
institutional work, to throw off the burden 
and care and revel in the fellowship and devo- 
tion of their Anglo-Saxon friends. 

And what interesting stories they tell; of a 
hard case cured, or a Brahman convert, or a 
break among the chamars, or the enlarged 
vision of their Indian co-workers, or a new 
friendliness among hitherto bitter opponents, of 
progress, encouragement and hope along many 
lines. And how human they are. One tells of 
putting a bullet through a crocodile's neck at 
sixty yards, another of the slaughter of a wild 
boar that was destroying the garden, another 
brought down a sambar, while a young Sahib 
proudly relates his marksmanship by bringing 

[294] 



JVBBULPORE 



in his first wildcat; and still another tells the 
story of dropping a black buck with a .22 rifle at 
a hundred yards. 

And here come the missionary children, 
little folks who for a year have played with no 
one except little brown Indian boys and girls. 
They scarcely know how to play with their white 
friends. And the older children ; some of them of 
high school and junior college grades, who have 
been denied the companionship of their kind. 
How happy they are together, at this annual con- 
vention time. 

And here is a Mem Sahib with her new 
baby, born since the last convention. No white 
persons have ever seen it except the two or three 
on the station where she lives. How proudly 
she exhibits her tiny Sahib, or Miss Sahib to the 
admiring folks from the other stations. And 
how careful she is to keep his little head from 
being exposed to the Indian sun. 

The tents have been put up all over the fine 
campus of the Bible College, and here come the 
carts of baggage and bedding which these folks 
must of necessity bring along with them. As 
they unload, the tennis rackets are noticeable 
among other paraphernalia. For at the con- 
vention there are scheduled periods of play as 
well as work. And how these over-worked folks 
do need to relax a little and forget their cares 
in wholesome play. 

Do you ask how such a large group of about 
seventy-five is fed? A well organized catering 

[295] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

committee has looked forward to such a time as 
this. Each family has been instructed to bring 
along its cook and bearer. The cooks are organ- 
ized under that chief of Indian cooks, China- 
swamy, who for a time was G. L. Wharton's 
cook in Harda, and in these later years has been 
cook for Dr. Drummond. What fine curry and 
rice he can put up. The waiters are also organ- 
ized for their work. The buying is done whole- 
sale and jams have been put up during the year 
for this event. The whole plan is carefully 
worked out by Mrs. Nellie Alexander (wife of W. 
B.) who is chairman of the committee. A special 
building, with open sides contains the long 
tables where the meals are served. Such good 
natured chattering and visiting and banter goes 
on under that roof as the meals are being served. 



And the program, how thoughtfully it has 
been worked out. What might be termed the 
minor phases of the program have had as care- 
ful attention as the major. Every afternoon 
there was a children's hour. The committee that 
worked out the program had put much time and 
thought upon it. There was also a children's 
supper hour, so that the youngsters could have 
an earlier supper and retire for the night. Then 
there was an evening with the "junior" mission- 
aries, in which these young people prepared the 
program. It was one of two nights of relaxation 
for the week. 

[296] 



JUBBULPORE 



That wide-awake bunch of "junior" mission- 
aries put on a great show. After several games 
and original stunts, it was announced that the 
main part of the program would be the Shylock 
scene from "The Merchant of Venice." It's easy 
to get the costumes for such a scene in India. 
The Shylock, with his whiskers, has been done 
much more poorly in college plays at home. The 
Portia was fine. In fact every part was not only 
well portrayed in dress, but the elocution and 
presentation of all the parts were exceptionally 
well done under the circumstances. Where they 
learned how to do it, and how to dress the parts, 
is not much of a mystery. The fathers and 
mothers of these young people are all college 
graduates, who have studied the best in English 
literature and who, before going to India had 
opportunity of seeing the best that the American 
stage produces. What a tragedy it would be if 
these growing boys and girls on the mission 
field did not have as their parents, men and 
women of superior training. 

What about the other night of relaxation? 
Honesty compels me to tell the whole story. 
The folks at home have a right to know what 
these missionaries do when they get together, 
so the truth must out! It was a "dress up" night. 
And it is an annual affair at these conventions. 
Not a burlesque dress up affair, but a real social 
evening when it is announced and expected that 
it will be a full dress occasion. All are expected 



[297] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

to wear their best clothes, real evening clothes, 
if they are lucky enough to possess them. 

It was a great night. Two or three not far 
removed from college, came forth unashamed in 
real evening clothes. Others came with their 
long-tailed coats. And the women, both married 
and single, how sweet they looked. Some of them 
I am sure, had their wedding dresses on and 
others with dresses they had worn when they 
were graduated from college. How thankful I 
was for that occasion. For what excuse was there 
for carrying a Prince Albert around the world 
if there was no chance to blossom forth in it, at 
least once, on the whole journey. 

All the niceties of social etiquette were ob- 
served during the evening. The young people 
entered into the spirit of the occasion as well as 
the grown-ups. It was held in the large bunga- 
low which is occupied by three families, Graing- 
ers, Livengoods and Alexanders. This large 
bungalow is well adapted to such an occasion. 
There were piano selections, recitations, solos, 
quartettes and group singing. The hosts and 
hostesses received their guests as they came and 
bade them goodnight as they left. My own con- 
viction is that this night is worth as much to the 
mission as any entire day of the convention. 
The psychology of the thing is right. For such 
a night is really a little section of the best of the 
American social order which is a part of the 
training these people have absorbed before go- 
ing out on their difficult mission. How their 
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JUBBULPORE 



minds must have gone back to their college days, 
their commencement days, their wedding days, 
to socials and entertainments in the church, and 
to the other fine influences which gave them the 
vision and led them to the commitment of their 
lives, to this, the greatest work in the world. 
Here's my unqualified indorsement of the "dress 
up" night of the Jubbulpore convention. 



The work of the convention proper might 
well be studied by the convention committees of 
our district, state, and national conventions. It 
is not a convention merely for speech-making 
and for hearing reports. It is a convention 
where the real business of the mission is care- 
fully considered, discussed and passed upon. If 
anything is omitted, it is the speeches and not 
the business. The important committees met 
two or three days in advance of the convention 
and went carefully over every phase of the work 
committed to them, item by item. When a com- 
mittee report was brought in it had had careful, 
constructive consideration by all the members 
of the committee. The report was read in full 
to the whole convention and time was given for 
questions, for explanation, and for frank and full 
discussion on any and every point. There was 
no desire nor attempt to "railroad" things 
through. When a report was finally adopted 
and a course of action agreed upon, it was the 
result of the combined wisdom of the whole 

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IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

mission, and the workers as they went back to 
their stations following the convention, to carry 
out the plans agreed upon, knew in doing so, 
that they had the sanction and wisdom and 
prayers of the entire mission back of them. 

What a variety of subjects were discussed 
at this convention. There was a committee on 
co-workers (Indian workers) which had to do 
with the salaries, assignments and supervision 
of all the Indian employees. How carefully they 
had to work out every detail so that no injustice 
would be done to any worker, and that each 
should be placed where the most effective work 
could be done. There was a committee on 
education, orphanages and Kulpahar Industrial 
Home. There was a "little boys' committee" to 
recommend how little boys were to be cared for 
who are too small to attend the Damoh orphan- 
age and boarding school. There were committees 
on a school for American children, men's evan- 
gelistic work, women's evangelistic work, and 
industrial work. There were committees on 
finance, medical work, language and literature, 
location and needs of the field. These committees 
gave hours and hours of careful study to their 
work. And when the 5 : 00 o'clock hour for ten- 
nis came, if the work was undone, they cut out 
the tennis rather than the work. 

The morning sessions of the convention be- 
gan at 8:00 o'clock. A half hour devotional 
period was held, followed by an address. The 
rest of the forenoon was given entirely over to 
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JUBBULPORE 



convention business. Convention business was 
scheduled on the program, everyone knew that 
the chief work of the convention was the busi- 
ness, and they attended strictly to business from 
day to day until every matter, from every station, 
and from every department of the work had been 
attended to. 

It has been my privilege as well as duty, in 
the last few years, to attend many conventions, 
county, district, state and national, but I have 
attended no convention anywhere that was as 
well organized and that attended as strictly to 
business as the Jubbulpore convention. In its 
detail committee work, in the time given for the 
discussion of committee reports, in the desire of 
those present to be fully acquainted with the 
details of every report, in the wise constructive 
program for the future, in the unity and harmony 
of all the workers, it seemed to me to be pretty 
n early a model convention. 

THE WATCH DOG OF THE TREASURY 



Three or four years ago, the work became 
so large and complex that it seemed wise to set 
aside one man to give most of his time as secre- 
tary and treasurer of the mission. They elected 
Mr. W. B. Alexander. The work of such a man 
will undoubtedly be of interest to people who 
are furnishing the money to maintain the work 
of our Indian mission, 

[301] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

In the first place Mr. Alexander is under 
bond as the treasurer of the mission. He handles 
considerably more than one hundred thousand 
dollars every year. When the checks arrive, 
from month to month, he has to use his judg- 
ment in securing the best rate of exchange, as 
the exchange situation is in a constant state of 
fluctuation. In handling these checks he is not 
always able to get the actual cash in Jubbulpore. 
If the best rate is quoted from Calcutta, he wires 
instructions to sell and to ship the money. The 
paper money thus shipped is usually clipped in 
two, one half of it being expressed on one day, 
and the corresponding half on the second day 
to prevent thievery. When both packages arrive 
safely, it is necessary for the notes to be pasted 
together again. When Mr. Alexander ships 
money from Jubbulpore to the different stations, 
it is clipped and sent in the same way. 



A careful plan has been worked out to keep 
each station informed as to the state of the funds 
allotted to it for the year. In times past some 
of them did not know how their accounts stood 
until the end of the year. Mr. Alexander's plan 
provides a monthly report for each mission sta- 
tion and each missionary within the station. On 
this report is entered the amount which has been 
granted for each department of the work for the 
year. There is also entered the amount that has 
been drawn to date, In this way each worker 

[302] 



JUBBULPORE 



knows the exact condition of his available funds 
each month. This system of reporting from the 
central office saves the workers of the various 
stations much bookkeeping and releases them 
for the real work which they were appointed to 
do. 

Mr. Alexander is also free to go on call to 
the various stations to give special advice and 
help. He gives valuable counsel in building 
operations. He lends encouragement when 
special problems are pressing, and knowing the 
needs of all the stations, he helps the workers in 
each to get a glimpse of the program and the 
opportunity of all. He is in no sense a dictator 
either in desire or practice. He is the servant 
of the mission, a wise counsellor, and helper, and 
sympathizer with the work and problems of 
every missionary in every station. Thus unity 
of purpose runs through the whole mission. 

The office is a busy place. He has two or 
three fairly well trained Indian helpers. His 
bookkeeper saves him an endless amount of 
labor. His stenographer could easily be fifty 
per cent more efficient, but it is very difficult to 
find a competent Indian stenographer. Then he 
has an all-around man who does everything 
that the rest of them do not and cannot do. This 
man hires the procession of oxcarts and tongas to 
meet the incoming trains at convention time, he 
goes into the bazaar and gets better prices on 
almost any commodity than anybody else can do. 
He acts as messenger in going to the bank for 

[303] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

money. He frequently goes to the bank and 
brings from one thousand to five thousand rup- 
ees. Mr. Alexander has perfect confidence in 
him. 

Following the war the army offered for sale 
a large quantity of blankets at a greatly reduced 
price. Mr. Alexander bought up a large quantity 
of these and sold them at cost to the Indian 
workers in the different stations. There was a 
great demand for them and for several months 
following he was receiving thanks and salaams 
from these workers who had been saved a great 
deal of money just by a little interest and 
thoughtfulness. 

Besides keeping in touch with the mission 
he carries on the official correspondence with 
the Board at home. He must inform the Board 
of the decisions of the convention, report the 
progress being made on the building projects, 
keep the Society treasurer informed of the con- 
dition of funds sent out for special purposes, re- 
port the demand and need for more workers, and 
in many other ways keep the Society constantly 
informed about the work. No busier man; no 
more humble man; and no more useful man is 
to be found in our Indian mission than its de- 
voted secretary and treasurer. 



[304] 




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CHAPTER XV 



A TRIBUTE AND SOME PROBLEMS 



[305] 



CHAPTER XV 

A TRIBUTE AND SOME PROBLEMS 

THE MEM SAHIBS 

(Note: It has not been possible for me, in this 
volume, to mention the work of every married 
woman by name. But I have not been un- 
mindful of the work they are doing. This 
section, therefore, is a heartfelt tribute to all 
such faithful workers in every station.) 



I have not yet seen a statement in mission- 
ary literature bearing on the subject of the 
married women missionaries. These mission- 
aries in India are known as the Mem Sahibs. 
Their influence is great, and their work is as 
important as that of any other worker, although 
sometimes that may not seem apparent to the 
casual observer. My topi is off to every Mem 
Sahib in India. 

In the first place a Mem Sahib is the man- 
ager of the home. That means more than it 
does in America, for she must look after two or 
three Indian servants, and in many cases thick- 
headed servants at that. 

[307] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

One of these is a cook, and he must be in- 
structed how to prepare American food in the 
good old-fashioned American way, and to do 
this is a task of no mean proportion. This cook 
is always a man and not a woman, and he has 
to take his instructions from a woman, and not 
a man. From time immemorial, the man in 
India has looked upon woman as an inferior, and 
now he must listen carefully to a woman ex- 
plain to him how to make coffee and toast and 
tea, and how to peel potatoes and cook meat, and 
make doughnuts and pies. And this foreign 
woman continuously and everlastingly insists 
that the cook shall wash his hands before the 
preparation of every meal ; that he shall keep all 
of the food scrupulously clean, that he scour his 
cooking vessels after every meal and that he 
wash the dishes in clean water. 

She also insists that he actually boil the 
drinking water, and bring it up and pour it in 
the large earthen water jars, and strain it through 
a piece of cloth before her very eyes. This is 
not only done one day, but three hundred and 
sixty-five days of every year. The Mem Sahib 
sees to it that there is no neglect on this point, 
otherwise there would be many additional mis- 
sionary graves "in the land of the salaam." 

If the reader should ask why the Mem 
Sahib does not do this work herself, the reply is 
that she lias too much sense, for in that hot 
climate no white woman could last ten years 
who did her own cooking. 

[308] 



A TRIBUTE AND SOME PROBLEMS 

Another problem of the Mem Sahib is that of 
matching wits daily with the cook. This is a 
problem with two aspects. First, she must send 
the cook to the bazaar to buy the meat and 
vegetables. She has to keep a constant eye upon 
the price, otherwise the cook may be getting one 
price for the food and the man in the bazaar 
another. She also must know that he delivers 
all the food he buys to her own kitchen rather 
than a part of it to his. In the second place, in 
the preparation and serving of the meals, she 
must know that enough only is being prepared 
and served for her own family and not that of 
the cook also. The cook receives his regular 
pay and is supposed to board himself. But a 
cook who is on to his job will many times save 
enough out of the meals of the missionary to run 
his own family. She must keep the sugar locked 
up, and other such articles for the table, and 
when it is time for a meal she gets out her 
bunch of keys and doles out enough for the meal 
and then puts the padlock on again. If there is 
any butter left, she must know it, otherwise it 
will be "all gone'* before the next meal. 

Then there is the sweeper and water carrier. 
He looks after the garbage cans, does the sweep- 
ing, carries the water, for in most places the 
water must come from a well some distance away 
from the bungalow. The Mem Sahib must see 
to it that this individual does his work properly 
and keeps everything in good, sanitary condition 
around the bathrooms. 

[309] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

And, if she has children, she must have a 
bai — an Indian woman to help look after them. 
This is necessary, if she is to do any missionary 
work outside the home. These bais must have 
careful instruction as to the proper care of the 
children. The little white babies, if they go out 
in the sun, must wear a topi, and the growing 
boys and girls likewise must wear topis when 
they go out. The children must not be allowed 
to drink water that is not boiled. There is a con- 
stant fear in the heart of every Mem Sahib, lest 
the Indian helper fail to properly care for the 
child, and some calamity befall it. 

Another problem, which is a source of worry 
to the missionary mother, is the lack of white 
companions for her children. In most cases, 
they must play alone or with the Indian boys 
and girls. As the boys and girls grow older, this 
is a constant source of danger. How her children 
may grow up into normal boys and girls with- 
out being contaminated by the vices of India 
is a worry and strain upon the missionary 
mother's mind and heart. 

On the other hand, every missionary child 
preaches a dozen sermons every day. It preaches 
the sermon of cleanliness, both in its person and 
clothing. The idea of using Ivory soap and 
clear water on every child every day has never 
entered the Indian mother's mind since the world 
began. The missionary child also preaches a 
sermon on education, for he is taught as soon as 
he is able to learn, both in the home and at 

[310] 



A TRIBUTE AND SOME PROBLEMS 

school. He preaches a sermon on sanitation, a 
sermon on health, a sermon on play, for the 
Indian boy and girl scarcely know how to play. 
In short, the missionary home and the mission- 
ary child and mother are the teachers of a new 
social order, and their circle of influence widens 
with every passing year. 

In many stations the Mem Sahib is the 
teacher of her own children. There are no 
public schools for white children and it is not 
wise to send them to the same schools with the 
Indian children. Her home is, therefore, a 
schoolroom, and along with her other daily tasks, 
she must wrestle with arithmetic, reading, writ- 
ing, spelling, geography and history. She is al- 
ways faced with the difficulty of getting good 
magazines and books for her children. There is 
no magazine counter or book store in the town 
where she lives. Most of these must come from 
America. And looking after the selection of the 
proper kind, of both children's and adult maga- 
zines and books and keeping up the subscription 
lists is no small task. Many times I was asked 
as to what was the best magazine for children 
from seven to ten, and also for older boys and 
girls. How welcome John Martin's Book and 
St. Nicholas are to the growing children in far 
away lands. 



Then there is a peculiar psychological 
problem with which the missionary mother is 

[311] 



IN T HE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

constantly confronted. That is, of keeping the 
home with the American atmosphere about it, 
so that the children will grow up to be normal 
American boys and girls. They are American, 
and they must continue to be American. They 
can neither be English nor Indian. They are 
away from their American friends, from a five 
to an eight year period between furloughs. The 
missionary mother must keep enough of the 
American spirit and atmosphere and habits of 
thought about the home, that when the children 
return to America for furlough or for high school 
and college, they will fit into the life of Ameri- 
can boys and girls without being thought "queer." 
Not a few missionary children have had many a 
heartache while they were becoming adjusted 
to the American life and ways because this point 
was overlooked by their parents. 

The home of the Mem Sahib is really the 
center for the Christian community where she 
lives, in fact, in many cases, it is the center of 
things progressive for the whole community, for 
her home is established before there is a hospital, 
a school, a Sunday-school, or a Church. The 
first idea as to what the white man is like, and 
how he lives, comes from the Christian home. 
People learn early to come to the mission bunga- 
low for advice and help, when in distress. The 
more advanced people come to borrow books, 
and many times to discuss matters of politics 
and religion, with the missionary. People com- 
ing to a village and wanting to know how an 

[312] 



A TRIBUTE AND SOME PROBLEMS 

American lives, will go to the mission bunga- 
low, as one of the places of interest. To all of 
these, and many more who come, the missionary 
home is the center of a new world. Her home 
must express to all who come, both high 
caste and low caste, the finest and the best 
of what Christian civilization means, and what 
the Christian home should be. The Mem Sahib, 
therefore, and her home, must always be ready 
for inspection, nearly twenty-four hours a day, 
for people come early and late with their many 
problems and questions. 

The Mem Sahib may also be considered al- 
most "a bird of passage" for in the hot season 
she must "lift up her eyes unto the hills." More 
than that, she must go to the hills with the chil- 
dren for two or three months during the terrible 
hot days that come annually in India. She, 
therefore, must really establish a new home for 
the time being, up in the foothills of the Himal- 
ayas. There she starts her school over again. 
However, in most "hill stations," there is a 
school for missionary children and it is a great 
relief to the missionary mother to start her 
children to school with their own kind. Often 
she is compelled to go back to the plains and 
begin her work, leaving the children in board- 
ing school for a few weeks to finish the term. 

A smoothly running home has a reflex 
influence upon the work of her husband. If 
he is a. doctor, his hands are busy nearly six- 
teen hours a day, with the many calls upon his 

[313] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

time and sympathy. If he is a school man, the 
constant care of the school, the supervision of 
the teachers and keeping the whole school up to 
government standards, takes all of his time. If 
he is an evangelist, he must make many tours 
with his Indian preachers, being away from 
home for days and sometimes weeks. The Mem 
Sahib who is able to look after the details of the 
home and keep her husband in good humor and 
always fit for his work, releases his energies and 
time in such a way that the largest amount of 
good may be accomplished. Not to be able to do 
this, hinders the work in many ways. It will be 
seen, therefore, that she is making a constant 
contribution to the great work outside of her 
own home every day of the year. 

3 

Having read thus far the reader may con- 
clude that the Mem Sahib does no real mission- 
ary work. If she did nothing else than what has 
been indicated above it would be a missionary 
task well worth while. However, this is not all 
that she does, as I can testify. In addition to all 
that has been mentioned heretofore, a number of 
the Mem Sahibs were doing the following things: 

One had charge of the girls' school work in 
her station, and looked after the supervision of 
the Indian teachers and all the details of the 
school. Another had charge of a Sunday-school 
in a village about two miles away and every 

[314] 



A TRIBUTE AND SOME PROBLEMS 

Sunday walked out to that school, across the 
fields, to care for her little school. She has 
some time also for visiting the homes of the 
people. Three other Mem Sahibs were medical 
missionaries. One looked after the dispensary 
and the necessary medical work at the hospital, 
treating from thirty to fifty patients a day with 
the help of her assistants. Another carried on 
a dispensary on the front porch and in the front 
yard of her own home, from fifteen to twenty 
people a day coming for treatment in the morn- 
ing. She also looked after a little school with 
two Indian women teachers, under a tree in her 
front yard. The other traveled with her hus- 
band on evangelistic tours and gave out medicine 
to the people. She is now looking after the 
hospital in one of our stations. Another super- 
vised the work of the Bible women, and had some 
time to visit the homes along with some of these 
Bible women, and teach the people the truths 
of Christianity. Still other Mem Sahibs had 
some time to visit among the homes of the 
Indian women. They also had frequent meet- 
ings in their own homes with the Christian 
women of the station, encouraging them in their 
Christian lives and teaching them the proper 
care of their children and their homes. Others 
have rendered useful service in helping the 
Christian young women to find Christian hus- 
bands. Many of the women go on tours with 
their husbands among the villages and tell Bible 
stories to the children and women while their 

[315] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

husbands are preaching to the men in the village 
streets. 

In these ways and a thousand others, the 
Mem Sahibs are giving a good account of them- 
selves in the "land of the salaam." They are 
rendering invaluable service. They are doing a 
work that nobody else can do. Their contribu- 
tion to the Kingdom of God is as important as 
that of any other worker. Their faith and hope 
and courage and zeal have not been surpassed 
by priest or prophet. They have stood up under 
the most difficult circumstances with as much 
heroism as any group of women who have ever 
lived. They may say with J. G. Holland: 

"In the fell clutch of circumstance 
I have not winced nor cried aloud." 

Many of them have grown gray in the 
service of India. They have grown gray work- 
ing at the most difficult task in the world. Yet 
everyone of them looks forward to the day for 
which they all pray, when India shall be re- 
deemed. And strange as it may seem, every one 
of them is praying that her own children shall 
be willing to give their lives also, that India may 
have the more abundant life which is to be found 
only in the Christian religion. 

THE PROBLEMS OF THE MISSIONARIES 

There is an old saying, "tell your troubles 
to the policeman." It seems to me it would be 
better to tell the problems of the missionaries to 

[316] 



A TRIBUTE AND SOME PROBLEMS 

the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood should not 
only know the successes of the missionaries but 
it should also know the problems which daily 
confront our workers on the other side of the 
world. In this way only can intelligent prayer 
be offered for the solution of these problems, and 
the Brotherhood enter sympathetically into the 
life and work of our representatives on the other 
side. There are four problems which need con- 
sideration. 

1 
THE LAND PROBLEM 

The land system in India is a constant 
handicap to the missionary program. About 
ninety-eight per cent of the people live in vil- 
lages. In most cases, the village is owned by one 
man who is called the Malgazar. He not only 
owns the land upon which the village is located, 
but usually all of the land surrounding the vil- 
lage. The people build and own their little mud 
houses, but they do not own the lot upon which 
the house is built. 

The villagers, therefore, work and live upon 
the land owned by the Malgazar. They are very 
poor. Most of them usually have eaten up all 
their grain before the next harvest comes on. 
Many times they have to borrow seed from the 
Malgazar to put in their crops. He charges them 
from twenty-five per cent to fifty per cent for 
every loan. When they finally get their share 

[317] 




IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

of the crop, they have to pay back a part of it at 
once for what they have borrowed. This puts 
them constantly in debt to the Malgazar and they 
are virtually economic slaves. 

Now when the missionary and evangelist 
preach in such a village and a man of family ex- 
presses a desire to follow Christ, the Malgazar 
must be reckoned with. In many cases, he is 
bitterly opposed to Christianity and informs the 
prospective convert that if he follows the new 
religion he cannot borrow any grain nor rent 
any more land. Many new Christians have been 
beaten and run out of town by such hard-hearted 
task masters, and many others no doubt have 
been kept from accepting Christ because of the 
economic pressure put upon them. This land 
system which has been in vogue for many gen- 
erations is one of the big factors in keeping back 
a more rapid progress of Christianity. 



THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM 

The educational problem has two phases. 

The first involves the question as to how 
far the missions should go in the establishment 
of schools. The educational program of the 
government is entirely inadequate. Compulsory 
education in India, as we have it in America, 
would be entirely impossible because there would 
not be enough teachers to care for the schools if 
they should be organized. There are thousands 

[318] 



A TRIBUTE AND SOME PROBLEMS 

of villages where there is no school and never 
has been. The missionary, therefore, has an 
opportunity on every hand, to organize schools, 
and a good attendance is assured, almost as soon 
as school begins. The entire missionary force, 
as well as native Christian force, could easily 
be used in the organization and conduct of 
schools for non-Christian people. 

On the other hand, most of the missions are 
now feeling that their first obligation is to 
furnish schools for the children of the Christian 
community, so that the children of the Indian 
Christians may be properly trained for Christian 
leadership in later years. After that is done, 
they feel that such other educational work may 
be carried on for non-Christians as time and 
force will permit. However, at the present time, 
many schools are carried on, including middle 
schools and high schools, where the majority of 
the students are non-Christians. In many Jowns 
of from five to twenty thousand the whole school 
program is organized and conducted and largely 
supported by the mission. 

This leads to the second phase of the prob- 
lem. 

The radical Indian leaders are demanding a 
larger place in the conduct of the government. 
They are demanding that certain phases of the 
government shall be transferred to them, to be 
under their entire supervision and direction. In 
all probability, education will be a transferred 
subject. This will mean that the missionaries 

[319] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

will be compelled to deal directly with Indians 
in the management of the missionary schools. 
These Indians will, no doubt, demand that the 
teaching of the Bible be taken out of the regular 
curriculum of the mission schools, the Bible now 
being one of the required subjects. The question 
will then face all the missions as to whether 
they will be willing to carry on such schools and 
teach the Bible as a voluntary subject, or re- 
organize their whole educational program and 
furnish only enough schools to care for the 
Christian community, and give the rest of their 
time and energies to more direct evangelistic 
effort. 

3 

THE PROBLEM OF EVANGELISM 

There are two prevalent ideas concerning 
evangelism. One is the plan of "touring among 
the villages." This is almost entirely a process 
of seed sowing. The missionary and evangelists 
go from village to village, gathering the people 
together for an hour or so, preaching to them, 
and then passing on to the next village. Such 
tours last from two to six weeks, during certain 
seasons of the year. Many villages are reached 
on such a tour and thousands of people hear the 
Gospel message who otherwise would never hear 
it. However, such a visit may be the only one 
during an entire year, and the stay is not long 
enough for the people to sufficiently understand 

[320] 




A TRIBUTE AND SOME PROBLEMS 



and accept the message. Hence, the possibility 
of many converts is remote. 

On the other hand, many feel that the plan 
of touring among the villages should be almost 
if not entirely abandoned. They feel that direct, 
definite, personal work with individuals, families 
and castes should be carried on. The mission- 
aries who are pursuing this course are having 
good results and baptizing many new converts. 
The whole evangelistic program in India needs 
to be revitalized along this line. The Indian 
preachers and evangelists need to be taught how 
to do definite, personal work in winning their 
fellows from an idolatrous religion, to a personal 
acceptance of Christ as their Saviour. 

However, this is not easily done. It is hard 
sometimes for a native preacher and even a mis- 
sionary to persuade a man to definitely take the 
stand for Christ, when he knows that the very 
day he does take that stand the man will prob- 
ably be beaten and run out of town. He knows 
also if this happens, that he has a new convert on 
his hands, who is out of a job and who must be 
cared for by the mission until he is able to find 
some other employment. If the Indian people 
were as free to accept Christ as are the people 
of America the missionaries could easily have 
a hundred converts where they now have but 
one. 



[321] 



IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 



THE PROBLEM OF INDIAN WORKERS 

Perhaps the most vital need in our whole 
mission is that of properly trained and conse- 
crated Indian teachers and preachers. There is 
a preacher shortage in India more urgent than 
in America. Most of the converts have come 
from the poor class of people. They have not 
had previous educational advantages. There- 
fore, their training is a big problem. It is no 
easy task to take an illiterate Indian Christian 
without any background of efficiency and educa- 
tion and leadership and train him to be an 
effective preacher and leader. It is not easy to 
take a young man who has only finished the 
primary grade and train him to be an acceptable 
evangelist who can be trusted to carry on the 
work among the villages. It is no easy matter 
to take ignorant, though willing, Indian women 
and teach them to be effective Bible women. And 
it is a perennial problem to train both the men 
and women who will successfully carry on the 
work of the mission schools. 

Yet the missionaries fully understand that 
the entire success of their work depends upon 
the raising up of a corps of trained Indian 
leaders, who will carry on the work of the 
schools, the churches, the hospitals and among 
the women. How happy they are when such a 
man has been trained so that he can and will 
take the place of responsibility and leadership 

[322] 



A TRIBUTE AND SOME PROBLEMS 

and acceptably carry out the program that is set 
before him. 

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT INDIA 

The latest compiled statistics give the popu- 
lation of India by religions, as follows: 

Christians 5,000,000 

Hindus 234,000,000 

Mohammedans 71,000,000 

Buddhists 12,000,000 

Animists 11,000,000 

Others 7,000,000 



Total 340,000,000 

The area of India is about one-half that 
of the United States. The United States has 
thirty-nine persons to the square mile, while 
India has one hundred and sixty-three. 

Owing to the successive swarms of invaders, 
there are seven distinct races in India, speaking 
about one hundred and eighty different lan- 
guages and about one hundred additional dia- 
lects. This land of many tongues is a great 
stumbling block to the missionary program. 
Twelve different languages are each the speech 
of five million people or more, as indicated be- 
low: 



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IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

Malayalam, spoken by.... 7,000,000 people 

Burmese, spoken by 8,000,000 

Oriya, spoken by 10,000,000 

Kanarese, spoken by 11,000,000 

Gujarati, spoken by 11,000,000 

Rajasthani, spoken by..-14,000,000 

Panjabi, spoken by 16,000,000 

Tamil, spoken by 18,000,000 

Marathi, spoken by 20,000,000 

Telegu, spoken by 24,000,000 

Bengali, spoken by 48,000,000 

Hindi, spoken by 96,000,000 

India is one of the largest exporters of hides 
in the world. 

More than seventy per cent of India's popu- 
lation is engaged in agriculture. It is the largest 
rice producer in the world. It is second only to 
the United States in the production of cotton. 

In the last ten years, the factories of India 
have nearly doubled. 

The average daily wage before the war in 
India, among the rural population, was about 
three cents, and among the urban population 
about eleven cents. For the same class of labor 
in the United States, the average is about two 
dollars and fifty cents. The average weekly 
wage for skilled labor in the United States was 
thirty dollars and in India only two dollars. 

The latest available figures show that eighty- 
nine per cent of the men of India are illiterate 
and ninety-nine per cent of the women. The per- 

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A TRIBUTE AND SOME PROBLEMS 



centage of illiteracy among religions is as fol- 
lows: 

Jains 28 per cent literate 

Sikhs 7 " 

Christians 22 " 

Buddhists 23 " 

Animists 1 " 

Mohammedans 4 " 

Hindus 6 " 

The large per cent of illiteracy among 
Christians, is due to the fact that the converts 
are mostly from the low caste people, who have 
never had any educational opportunities, before 
becoming Christians. 

In India, there are more than two and a half 
million wives, under ten years of age, and nine 
million under fifteen years of age. The follow- 
ing table shows the proportion of girls of 
various ages, who are married: 

Under 5 years 1 in 72 

From 5 to 10 years 1 in 10 

From 10 to 15 years....more than 2 in 5 
From 15 to 20 years 4 in 5 

In India, one Christian woman out of every 
eight can read, but only one woman out of a 
hundred, among the non-Christian women can 
read. 

There are one hundred and eighty-five mis- 
sion hospitals and three hundred foreign mis- 
sionary doctors in India. One hundred and sixty 
of these doctors are women. 

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IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

There are about fourteen thousand Protes- 
tant missionary schools, of all grades, attended 
by about seven hundred thousand pupils. 

The total attendance of all public schools 
for 1917 was reported over seven million two 
hundred thousand. Less than one fifth of these 
pupils were girls. 

PURELY PERSONAL 

The work of some of our India missionaries 
has not been mentioned in this volume because 
they were home on furlough during the time of 
my visit. I have attempted to write what I saw 
and felt. However, a general word about those 
on furlough will not be out of order. 

Mrs. George Springer who worked so effec- 
tively for many years at Mahoba is now located 
at Maudaha. She just arrived in India, fresh from 
her experiences in the war, about a month before 
I left. 

Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Menzies, who toiled so 
faithfully at Rath, returned just prior to the 
Jubbulpore Convention and were located at 
Pendra Road during the furlough of Mr. and Mrs. 
Madsen. 

W. H. Scott and wife, formerly principal of 
the Harda High School, were also absent on fur- 
lough, but are now back in Harda working with 
Mr. Harnar where two families are needed for 
the school work instead of one. 

E. C. Davis and wife of Kulpahar, who look 
after the evangelistic work there, were also in 

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A TRIBUTE AND SOME PROBLEMS 

America. I slept for several nights in their 
bungalow. He has been a handy man in the 
erection of buildings, and has helped in the con- 
struction of several building enterprises in the 
different stations. 

Miss Olive Griffith, for many years located 
at Damoh, has now returned and is helping in 
the work at Jhansi, while Miss Haight is on fur- 
lough. 

Dr. Jennie Fleming, who does such splendid 
work among the villages around Mungeli, was 
also taking a much needed rest in the home land, 
as were likewise Miss Furman, of Bilaspur, and 
Miss Cowdrey, of Kulpahar. 

Mr. and Mrs. Harry Schaefer, of Bilaspur, 
are now back at the task there while Mr. and Mrs. 
J. E. Moody are on furlough. 

Both Miss Minnie Johnson, a trained nurse 
working in Bilaspur, and Miss Ina Hartsook were 
taking an extended furlough because of a break- 
down in health. 

And last but not least, Mr. and Mrs. D. O. 
Cunningham. He had acted as the Principal of 
the Harda High School, as Secretary of the mis- 
sion, and also had a large part in the organiza- 
tion of the enlarged program of evangelism at 
Bilaspur. For health reasons, he was taking a 
prolonged furlough from his work in India, but 
his mind and heart were not idle. The Boards 
had called him as the Recruitment Secretary for 
all the fields. For two years he had visited our 
colleges and gave the call and the challenge of 

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IN THE LAND OF THE SALAAM 

the great mission fields to hundreds of students. 
He had toiled unceasingly to find the right type 
of young men and young women for this work. 

No finer piece of work had ever been done 
by any Recruitment Secretary of any mission 
board. The news of his death was received with 
the profoundest sorrow by his host of Indian 
friends. They loved him. His zeal and optimism 
had permeated the whole Indian Christian com- 
munity. His influence will be felt for many 
years. 

In addition to these an even dozen new 
workers have gone out since I left India. Some 
future writer will be able to record their diffi- 
culties and their victories. 

But to all the workers, both new and old, 
who toil in the "land of the salaam" go out our 
hearts, our hopes, our prayers and sometimes 
even our tears, and to them all we send out across 
the world our bahut salaams. 



[328] 



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